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Compelling Explanations
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High school teacher Sonia Ornelas and her husband, of Pearsall, Texas, were charged with providing alcohol to minors after police found their son and about 60 other Pearsall High students–mostly football players, band members, and cheerleaders–drinking at a postgame party at the Ornelases’ home in September. The Ornelases defended themselves by saying that they had no idea alcohol was being served and they were upstairs asleep the whole time.
The Oklahoma press has suggested recently that the state’s U.S. Senate race may be so close that independent candidate Sheila Bilyeu, 60, could wind up being a factor. A mid-October poll had Bilyeu at 4 percent, with Tom Coburn leading Brad Carson 42 percent to 39 percent and 14 percent undecided. Bilyeu has filed numerous lawsuits against the federal government (all eventually dismissed) demanding the removal of a radiolike device she says the military implanted in her head in the 1970s that allows authorities to transmit messages to her. In a 2001 suit she alleged that Bill Clinton had ordered gas attacks against her and the theft of her dog. She’s also brought unsuccessful suits against Dan Rather and Alex Trebek.
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