Young non-booty-shaking cheerleaders, female Mexican mayors, and day three of the Williams trial

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At what age should cheerleaders be required to shake their booty? It's an age-old question, and according to an elementary school coach in Nebraska, the answer is 11. Cheerleading coach Tina Harris tossed an 11-year-old cheerleader named Faylene Frampton off the squad after she refused to perform a cheer that required her to turn her back to the audience, bend over, and move her hips from side to side. “It just felt wrong. I don’t know why,” said Frampton, who is the oldest cheerleader on the team. This comes a month and a half after a six-year-old cheerleader was thrown off the squad after she refused to perform a cheer that also contained the word “booty.” Thank goodness these girls have the good judgment their coaches sorely lack.

When the Mexican town of Praxedis G. Guerrero put out the call for a new police chief, 20-year-old criminology student Valles Garcia was the only person to apply for the position. Garcia now heads up a small police force in what is recognized as one of the most violent municipalities in the border state of Chihuahua. Garcia knows it is a dangerous time for police in Mexico – only last week a local mayor and his son were murdered, and more than 28,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Calderon declared war on the country's powerful drug cartels in 2006. Garcia says her 13-member force will be primarily female and unarmed, and claims the first few days have gone smoothly.  

We're all familiar with the magical healing claims of Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice and the apparent immune-boosting powers of Vitaminwater, but do any of these supermarket promises hold any truth? A story in this week's Maclean's delves into the exploding multi-billion-dollar industry of nutrient-enhanced food and beverage products. Are they really as healthy as they claim, or just another sneaky marketing strategy? Read on to find out. 

The trial of Colonel Russell Williams saw its third day in the courtroom Wednesday, and brought with it the first statements from the families of the victims. The brother of murder victim Jessica Lloyd described Williams as “pure evil that took her from us,” and Lloyd's mother expressed her anguish that she will never “walk [Jess] down the aisle, hear that she's expecting a baby. He has not only taken away my precious daughter, but dreams of her future children, my future grandchildren." The trial continues today, and the court is expecting to hear prepared statements from the family of Williams' other murder victim, Marie-France Comeau. 

The federal Public Sector Integrity Comissioner released two notices yesterday that raise more questions than answers about the integrity of the commission itself. The commission was created three years ago to give civil servants an avenue to confide about corruption and wrongdoing. The first notice announced the resignation of Comissioner Cristine Ouimet, who has headed the initiative since it began three years ago, while the second notice announced that the Auditor General will be investigating the Integrity Commissioners office. More details are likely to emerge in the coming days.