Cartoon Network executive resigns

The head of the Cartoon Network resigned Friday over a publicity stunt that caused a terrorism scare in Boston.

Jim Samples, general manager and executive vice president, said he regretted the incident and felt "compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch."

Dozens of blinking circuit boards showing a cartoon character giving the finger were planted in 10 cities as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." In Boston, the discovery of the devices Jan. 31 led police to shut down bridges and highways and send in the bomb squad.

Washington

University's fees first to pass $50,000

George Washington University, the most expensive major university in the United States, on Friday became the first to raise tuition, fees and other costs above $50,000 a year.

George Washington trustees set tuition for students entering the university in September at $39,210, an increase of 3.8 percent, the school said. Mandatory fees, including housing, will push that to $50,660, spokesman Matt Lindsay said.

The trustees, led by Charles Manatt, a co-chairman of Manatt Jones Global Strategies and a director at FedEx, approved the record price amid calls from the Bush administration and Congress for colleges to hold down costs.

Burleson, Texas

Teens sue to carry rebel-flag purses

Two high-school students filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Burleson school district over a year-old incident in which school officials denied them the right to carry Confederate battle-flag purses to school.

Attorneys for the Southern Legal Resource Center prepared the lawsuit on behalf of Aubrie Michelle McAllum and Ashley Paige Thomas, who contend their constitutional rights were violated in January 2006 when school officials prevented them from keeping their new purses at Burleson High School.

The lawsuit alleges that the district south of Fort Worth selectively applied the dress code by singling out the Confederate flag for exclusion while permitting students to wear other controversial symbols, including the swastika.

Also

Animal-cruelty sentence: Brothers Joshua, 17, and Justin Moulder, 19, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for torturing a puppy by cooking it in an oven. The brothers brought neighborhood children to see the dead puppy and threatened to kill them if they reported it, prosecutors said.

Disney World employee held: Walt Disney World employee Matthew Wendland, 20, who dressed as the characters Goofy and the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast" has been arrested on child-pornography charges. Wendland has been suspended without pay from his job.

Seattle Times news services