Lead Story
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Donovan Brown, a 26-year-old Democratic nominee for a state legislative seat in central Florida, was forced to take some time off the campaign trail earlier this month when he was confined to a mental health facility in New Port Richey. In a phone interview from the facility, Brown explained to the St. Petersburg Times that the run for office had worsened some existing psychological issues–Republicans had deliberately chosen a candidate who would “unnerve” him, he said–and his mother convinced him to go with her to the hospital. Once there, an incident in which he splashed her with water (“I wanted my mom to step in the water. I didn’t hurt her in any way”) led staff to restrain him and admit him for extended evaluation. Brown told the reporter he badly wanted to leave (“I need to be out with my constituents”) and that he remained a viable candidate: “I’m not going to withdraw. I’m a good kid.”
Cultural Diversity
According to police in Perry, Georgia, an 80-year-old woman shopping at a local Wal-Mart in September stumbled over a man sitting on the floor in the curtains aisle, who then asked for her help with what he said was a religious ritual. He got her to stand on his hands and spit on him, and he’d begun to lick her feet when a security officer showed up and recognized him from a photo circulated following a similar incident 50 miles away at a Wal-Mart in Americus. He repeated that he was performing a religious ritual, then fled.
Recurring Themes
