January 2009

A hospital in England is being investigated by a chaplain because people think it’s haunted:

Staff at Derby City General hospital, where a £334m building project is ongoing, have reportedly seen a mysterious apparition in the building.

Managers said they took information from staff seriously and were working with the chaplaincy to ease fears.

But they denied any suggestion that an exorcism or similar ceremony was being planned for the hospital.

The Reverend Canon Elaine Jones, an advisor to the bishop of Derby on the paranormal, said she had been asked to visit and investigate the claims.

And over here on this side of the pond, the ACLU has sued a school district in Oklahoma over it’s harassment of teenage girl they’ve branded as a witch:

In a case reminiscent of the Salem Witch trials, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma today filed a federal lawsuit charging that school officials violated 15-year-old Brandi Blackbear’s rights when they accused her of casting a hex that resulted in a teacher’s illness.

“These outlandish accusations have made Brandi Blackbear’s life at school unbearable,” said Joann Bell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oklahoma. “I for one would like to see the so-called evidence this school has that a 15-year-old girl made a grown man sick by casting a magic spell.”

While the ACLU has defended students’ religious beliefs in Wicca and other minority religions, Bell said the Oklahoma lawsuit is believed to be the first in the country involving actual accusations of witchcraft.

Again, what century are we living in?

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