Colorado student in black face sparks racial debate

  Eyewitness NewsCOLORADO SPRINGS (WABC) -- A school project in Colorado turned into a debate about racism after an 8-year-old boy in Colorado Springs dressed up like Martin Luther King, Jr.

The second grader, Sean King, went all out for the assignment to portray a historical figure and even painted his face black.

"I worked very hard," King said. "I tried my best."

The school district says a staff member at the Meridian Ranch Elementary School and some students were offended.

The student and his parents were called to the principal's office, and Sean was asked to wash the paint off.

"They thought it was inappropriate and it will be disrespectful to black people, and I say its not, I like black people," he said. "It's just a costume. I don't want to insult anybody"

His parents pulled him out of school and say they aren't sure if they will send him back, even though the school district says he can return without consequence.

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Mom in tanning controversy sparks 'tanorexic' doll

  Eyewitness NewsOXFORD, Conn. -- A Connecticut novelty company is selling a "tanorexic" action figure based on a deeply tanned New Jersey mother accused of causing skin burns to her young daughter in a tanning booth.

Patricia Krentcil has said she loves tanning but wouldn't - and didn't - take her then-5-year-old into a tanning booth. Krentcil pleaded not guilty last week to a child endangerment charge. She says her daughter got sunburned outdoors.

The president of Oxford-based HeroBuilders says everyone has friends into heavy tanning. Emil Vicale says, "We thought it was a funny thing to do."

The blonde, orange-faced doll in a black pantsuit costs $29.95.

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Firecracker sparks explosion, panic at LI school

  Eyewitness NewsHEMPSTEAD (WABC) -- Someone threw a lit firecracker into a room at a Long Island middle school Tuesday, causing an explosion and panic that left several people injured.

The incident happened at Hempstead Middle School around 11 a.m., while students were registering for summer classes.

Sources say several parents and students were in a computer lab when someone, possibly a student, ran into the lab and threw a lit firecracker onto a table that held a computer. That computer exploded, sending shrapnel across the room.

As many as five people were taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

There is reportedly at least one person in custody, though it is not clear what that suspect will be charged with.

The incident set off a panic in the hall of the school.

"I heard, like, three pows," one student said. "It was like boom, boom, boom, like gunshots going off inside the building. And I seen a whole bunch of people running and screaming, it's a fire, it's a fire."

"A straight boom, like basically a bomb," another said. "You know, when you throw a firecracker indoors, it's going to sound loud. So it was really loud, a lot of smoke and everything. The teachers were panicked. Some of them were crying and everything."

Officials say that some of the injuries were caused in the panic that followed the explosion.

The Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Long Island News »

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