Update below: Mario Hunt, an assistant teacher and coach at Cahokia High School, is accused of having sexual contact with a minor -- while he knew he was HIV positive. The alleged abuse, police say, stems back to 2011 when the victim was seventeen years old.

It's unclear exactly what his connection is to the victim, but charges say that Hunt, 35, "holds a position of trust authority or supervision" in relation to the minor.

Because he knowingly exposed the student to the virus, he is facing -- in addition to criminal sexual assault charge -- a transmission of HIV charge as well.

Officials say there could be more victims.

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via stlcc.edu

George Wasson.

Update: Yesterday, we reported that George Wasson, president of the Meramec campus of St. Louis Community College, had resigned in the wake of accusations that the school was slow to respond to a violent, random student attack in a campus bathroom. Our original coverage and the full letter from the chancellor is below.

Last night, Daily RFT received additional information from the college about its efforts to respond to the criticisms it is facing -- mainly that the alleged attacker was apprehended and then let go and that the school neglected to send out a campus-wide security alert after a nineteen-year-old student was assaulted.

For starters, Chancellor Myrtle Dorsey now says that the college is "conducting an internal investigation of St. Louis Community College personnel involved with the incident on the Meramec campus."

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David Marler.

David Marler, a 32-year-old teacher at Soldan International Studies High School, is accused of having sex with a male student -- who also said he became dizzy after the teacher gave him some sort of "inhalant."

The St. Louis Police Department says that detectives are "investigating the possibility that others may have been victimized."

A graphic probable-cause statement that describes the allegations, on view below, says that Marler is facing a string of charges all tied to an encounter on the afternoon of April 21 at a residence near Cates Avenue and Union Boulevard, which is right by the school. Marler lives in Breckenridge Hills.

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Bob Barker says Wash. U.'s cats pay a high price.

Bob Barker -- yes, Bob Barker -- is pressuring Washington University in St. Louis to end its controversial practice of using live cats in medical-school training classes.

"I love cats. I love all animals," the television host tells Daily RFT in a phone interview. "It's upsetting to me.... There's no reason for them to be doing this."

As part of his plea to Wash. U., he's offering $75,000 to fund an alternative method that uses simulation mannequins instead of cats, which animal rights activists say are tortured during the procedure.

Will that price be right?

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Inside a Wash. U. training program.

Is it necessary for Washington University to use live cats as part of a medical training program? That question was raised again last week when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released an "undercover video" that gives viewers a look inside the medical school's practice of intubating anesthetized cats. Full footage is below.

"It's incredibly painful," Justin Goodman, director of laboratory investigations with PETA, tells Daily RFT. "Unskilled trainees [shove] hard, plastic tubes down a cat's very delicate throat."

The video evidence, PETA says, reveals that some cats were not even properly anesthetized and began to wake up during the procedure. And the group says that's just one more reason that this practice must end at Wash. U., which may be the only institution that still uses cats for this training.

Wash. U., however, defends the procedure -- arguing that it is proven to be safe for the cats and is a very valuable training method.

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via Twitter

Marquez Oliver, fifteen.

A very sad story at Normandy High School today. Officials say that two students were playing around at lunch yesterday when one punched the other in the chest as part of a game that appears to have gone horribly wrong.

The student, Marquez Oliver, a fifteen-year-old freshman, collapsed in the cafeteria -- and a school resource officer and nurse tried, unsuccessfully, to revive the boy. He regained consciousness in the ambulance, officials say, but died just after 6:30 p.m.

Police say it seems there was no bullying or foul play -- just two students horsing around.

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Olutosin Oduwole, 27.

Should a university student be imprisoned for a piece of paper that appears to threaten a "murderous rampage similar to the [Virginia Tech] shooting?"

That question, it seems, will continue to be debated in court, with news this week that the Illinois Attorney General is appealing the overturned conviction of Olutosin Oduwole, the former Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville student who, for years now, has fought against accusations that he attempted to make "terrorist threats."

"Terrorism is inconsistent with civilized society and cannot be tolerated," the petition, full document on view below, says, citing a post-9/11 anti-terrorism act.

Does the state have a strong enough case to send Oduwole back to prison?

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Not if you get sick?

Another Republican lawmaker in Missouri is getting national attention -- this time for a very short piece of legislation that critics say could punish poor children who get sick.

House Bill 1040, introduced last week, says in its entirety: "School age children of welfare recipients must attend public school, unless physically disabled, at least ninety percent of the time in order to receive benefits."

"It's a pretty mean bill," Democratic State Rep. Stacey Newman tells Daily RFT. "Let's do more to hurt lower-income people, and let's assume that they're all committing fraud."

If passed, how could it impact students and families?

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As the nation gears up for the Final Four of men's basketball this weekend, a lesser known college tournament will take place in suburban Washington, D.C. That's right sports fans, who's ready for the Final Four of chess?!

Answer: The Webster University chess team. Its members have spent thousands of hours preparing mentally and physically for the competition, according to the team's coach Susan Polgar. Yes, physically. Polgar tells Daily RFT that exercise improves players endurance and self-confidence.

That Webster has made it to this year's President's Cup (a.k.a. the "Final Four" of chess) is a testament to Polgar's clout in the game. Webster didn't even have a chess team until it lured Polgar and several of her players from Texas Tech last year.

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A Washington University fraternity that got national attention earlier this year in the face of accusations of a bizarre, racist pledge prank has been reinstated.

As we reported in February, the local chapter of the frat was suspended following reports that white pledges had photographed black students and then recited a rap in front of them that included racial slurs.

"I can confirm that the temporary suspension of SAE has been lifted by University," Wash. U. spokesman Steve Givens says in an e-mail to Daily RFT this morning. "The investigation is now complete."

But what discipline did the accused students face?

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