posted 08-31-2004 11:09 AM         

This reminds me of a story I heard of a guy who called in sick to play golf and had a hole in one that was in his local paper the next day. His boss wasn't amused, I'm sure.

posted 08-31-2004 01:58 PM         

Hempstead took on a new connotation this week in a school district near Atlanta.

An assistant principal at Grayson High School in Gwinnett County pulled Terrell Jones out of class Monday, mistaking the "Hempstead, NY 516" logo on his T-shirt as a reference to marijuana.

Jones, who moved to Grayson from Hempstead, had to persuade school officials to look up the town on the Internet before they would let him go back to class. The assistant principal apologized once he realized the misunderstanding, said Sloan Roach, spokeswoman for the county schools.

Jones got to keep his shirt on, and though he could not be reached for comment Thursday, the Associated Press reported he said he will wear it to school in the future as well.

Hempstead's namesake actually has nothing to do with illegal drugs. The town's Web site said it may have been named for Hemel-Hempstead, England, or Heemstede, Netherlands.

Village of Hempstead Mayor James A. Garner said he's heard people refer to hemp in the municipal name and even received comments about his license plate, which says "Hemp 1."

"Anyone could question it, I guess, not knowing the real meaning of it," he said.

Still, he said, Hempstead should be somewhat familiar to people around Atlanta because he was recently there for a national conference for mayors and was the president of the event.