The Washington Times reports:

The Metropolitan Police Department has licensed private security officers in the D.C. public school system despite past arrests on charges of assault, cocaine possession and passing counterfeit money, according to a draft report by the D.C. inspector general.

"There are contracted security personnel working in [public schools] who may pose a risk to the secure environment of students and staff," the draft document states.

"There is no assurance that all contracted school security personnel possess the requisite skills to ensure the safety and security of ... students and faculty," according to the report, which has not yet been finalized.

And this:

According to the report, the inspector general researched the backgrounds of 30 security officers randomly selected from among 400 working in the school system for Watkins Security Agency of D.C. Inc. last school year.

Oh, so it's not just an honest mistake. It's because someone somewhere is a complete freakin' idiot, or possibly is illiterate.

Citizens of D.C. should take note: People with records of assault and drug possession are "guarding" your kids at school. Meanwhile, it's illegal for you to keep a loaded gun in your own home to protect yourself, quite possibly from the same people who are "guarding" your kids.

CCKRBA pulls no punches:

"A news report today that ex-cons are guarding DC public schools demonstrates that DC officials are completely incompetent," John Michael Snyder, Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said here today.

"They simply cannot be trusted with the public safety," he added.

"Efforts by Mayor Anthony Williams, Police Chief Charles Ramsey and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to maintain the asinine DC gun law and prevent law-abiding citizens from getting guns to protect themselves and their families would be ludicrous if they weren't so sad," he continued. "Williams, Ramsey and Norton constitute in effect a triumvirate of tyranny – a tyranny that represses the law-abiding citizenry's right to self-defense – a tyranny of stupidity that refuses to recognize the right of decent, average people to protect themselves and their loved ones from violent, predatory criminals."

Austin, TX:

Shouting one another down in a fight about property rights, senators approved broad restrictions Wednesday on government seizure of homes or businesses to spur economic development.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Kyle Janek of Houston, and its leading critic, Democrat John Whitmire of Houston, angrily interrupted each other as they tussled over a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such use of the government power known as eminent domain. It was an unusual brawl in the normally genteel upper chamber, known for doing its dirty work away from the floor and then staging debates full of kisses and pats on the back.

The measure, sent to the House by a vote of 25-4, would spell out the projects for which governments still may condemn land, and would forbid a taking of land for economic development by a private entity.

However...

Senators approved a protection for Arlington's efforts to condemn homes for a proposed $650 million Dallas Cowboys stadium, already approved by voters.

I'd say screw the Cowboys, but that's just me.

A marauding pit bull has apparently defied being shot, hit with a car, and Tasered in Connecticutt:

The man versus canine confrontations began Wednesday morning when two police officers went to help an animal control officer after receiving a report that the dogs were charging her at Center Springs Park.

The dogs again charged, and one of the officers fired his gun in self-defense, police said. The gunfire didn't stop the dogs, which turned and ran toward a town recreation building at 100 Lodge Drive, where the summer camp was going on inside, police said. Several more officers were sent to the park.

I say he just didn't hit in the right place (or didn't hit it at all). And when the owner is tracked down, there should be something to charge him with. Dogs--even pit bulls--don't get this way without a reason.