WASHINGTON
Lenders may have misused student info
Some lending companies with access to a national database that contains confidential information on 60 million student borrowers have repeatedly searched it in ways that violate federal rules, raising alarms about data mining and abuse of privacy, government and university officials said.
The improper searching has grown so pervasive that officials said the Education Department is considering a temporary shutdown of the government-run database to review access policies and tighten security. Some worry that businesses are trolling for data to bombard students with mass mailings or other solicitations.
Students’ Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and sensitive financial information are in the database, which is covered by federal privacy laws.
MIDDLE RIVER, Md.
Slide doused in acid severely burns boy
A 2 1/2-year-old boy was severely burned Saturday afternoon at the playground of a Middle River elementary school after going down a slide doused in sulfuric acid and landing in a pool of the corrosive liquid.
Authorities believe vandals stole the industrial-strength drain cleaner from a storage closet at Victory Villa Elementary School and poured it over multiple pieces of playground equipment.
The boy, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the school, was in fair condition Saturday night at Johns Hopkins Hospital’s pediatric burn unit. He was being treated for third-degree chemical burns.
“We found this liquid on everything – the jungle gym, the monkey bars – everything,” said Baltimore County Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Vickie Warehime.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.
Skakel to make plea for new murder trial
Michael Skakel is going back to court this week in a bid for a new murder trial, adding another twist to a case that has spawned decades of intrigue.
Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is serving 20 years to life in prison after he was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood when they were 15.
Skakel, 47, seeks a new trial based on a claim by one-time schoolmate Gitano “Tony” Bryant implicating two friends in Moxley’s 1975 killing.
COLUMBIA, Ky.
Horse dies; rider charged with DUI
A horse was euthanized and its rider charged with being drunk on horseback after a Kentucky state trooper struck the horse with his cruiser, state police said.
Trooper James Richard was driving in a rainstorm about 5 miles east of Columbia in south-central Kentucky when he hit the horse and rider late Friday on an unlighted, rural highway, state police said.
The horse was critically injured and euthanized at the scene, state police said. Jonathan Bryant was charged with DUI-non-motorized vehicle after being treated for minor injuries.
