News in Brief: A National Roundup

A 7th grader in Ponder, Texas was put in a detention center for six days for writing a Halloween story in which he depicted himself shooting three classmates and his teacher. Christopher Beamon received an A on the assignment, titled "Things That Go Bump in the Night," and extra credit for reading it aloud on Oct. 27 to his English/language arts class at the 230-student Ponder High School, located 50 miles northwest of Dallas.

But according to a statement released by the boy's lawyer, William B. Short Jr., school officials who learned about the story when the teacher passed it along to them thought Christopher had "stepped over the line," and they called the local sheriff's office. Mr. Short said the student was charged with writing a terrorist note that made threats.

Those charges were dropped last week, and Christopher was released from the...