Quick Takes

'Burrito Boy'

A burrito gigante caused quite a scare at Marshall Middle School in Clovis, N.M. When a middle-school boy was seen on April 26 carrying in an unidentified 30-inch tube wrapped in tin foil and a T-shirt, someone feared it was a weapon. Two hours later-after a full lockdown of the school and the placement of armed officers on the rooftop-officials unwrapped the object to reveal not a weapon, but rather a tortilla filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, and guacamole. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school principal Diana Russell said. The eighth-grader's burrito was part of a school extra-credit assignment to create an advertising plan for a product. The boy, Michael Morrissey, says he has a new nickname: "It's Burrito Boy."

Clothes calls

April 26 was National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day, and the organizer, American Life Alliance, reports that about 15,000 students wore special pro-life shirts to school. At least three of them got in trouble for it. The T-shirt features the head of an unborn child and the words "Abortion Kills Kids." Sisters Tamera and Brittany Chandler, high-school students in Des Moines, Iowa, were told to change or cover their shirts-until the Iowa Civil Liberties Union offered to defend the pair. School officials apologized to the girls and their parents that same week.

A fifth-grader in Knoxville, Tenn., whom reports did not name, was also told to cover or change the shirt. Her mother, Debbie Williams, instead took her home for the day. School officials there said the message wasn't appropriate for young students and suggested a more positive version for future T-shirts, such as "Choose life." Ms. Williams said she could accept that compromise: "I just wanted [my daughter] not to feel like she was being penalized for standing up for what she feels is right."

Off the road again

A plan to name a 49-mile stretch of road near Austin, Texas, after Willie Nelson went up in smoke late last month. The problem: the legendary honky-tonker's legendary propensity for hard drinking and smoking marijuana. Two GOP state senators blocked the proposal, citing Mr. Nelson's habits as well as his support for Democratic politicians. Democratic state senator Gonzalo Barrientos withdrew the bill, saying he didn't want Mr. Nelson to have to endure the process: "There is no reason to make this an unpleasant experience for anyone, especially Willie."

Collared greens

Authorities in Lima, Peru, rescued thousands of endangered frogs on April 27 from an unlikely predator: humans who wanted to blend them into drinks. The Reuters news service reports that city officials were inspecting a slaughterhouse when they found about 5,000 Telmatobius frogs loaded into crates. Frog drinks are popular in the Andes, with some shops allowing customers to choose frogs from a tank.

Easy search

Keith Washington of Chicago wanted his day in court-and it got him arrested. The robbery suspect was on the lam when FBI agents spotted him walking into a federal courthouse to check on a lawsuit he had pending against a former employer. The suspect in 13 bank robberies was arrested on April 28.

Here's the beef

McDonald's has the quarter-pounder. Hardee's has the two-thirds-pound monster thickburger. And Denny's Beer Barrel Pub of Clearfield, Pa., has the Beer Barrel Belly Buster. How does it stack up to the others? The $30 burger comes with 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard, and banana peppers. The eatery introduced the burger, with claims that it's the world's largest, last month, and no one yet has eaten it in one sitting. "It's a little too much for me to handle," said customer Steve Hepburn. "It's like trying to eat half a cow."