Hundreds of schoolchildren were issued with letters from their schools this month warning parents that "tattoo drugs" were being sold to pupils.
Distributed as an "important memo from the Metro Police", the letter warned parents that the innocuous-looking "blue star" stick-on body tattoos - the size of a pencil-top eraser - which was being sold to schoolchildren had been soaked in LSD.
The warning said the drug was so sensitive that it could apparently be absorbed through the skin simply by handling the paper.
However, Operation West's Insp Eddy Von Bargen said the warning had not been issued by the Metro Police and dismissed the memo as a fake.
"There is no such tattoo drug. Nobody has come across the "blue star" tattoo. There are other small stamps which people use (as drugs) but we have not come across these tattoos."
Supt Devan Naicker, of the Organised Crime Unit, said he had received numerous calls about the warning but did not know who had released it.
Department of Education Minister Ina Cronje's spokeswoman, Christi Naude, said that the department was "not sure" about the warning letter. Naude said that they would investigate the origin of the warning.
The letter also warns parents to look out for brightly-coloured tabs resembling postage stamps which have pictures of clowns, Superman, butterflies, Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson and other Disney characters.
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A new $4 million building could occupy the space where a cafe and a tattoo parlor stand in downtown Tempe.
By next summer, owners of a Las Vegas-based company, Tempe Mill LLC, plan to knock down the building to construct a new one more than triple the size of the existing structure.
"The building is obsolete," said Mario Sanchez, owner of the property on Seventh Street and Mill Avenue. "At this point you have to tear [it] down."
Caffe Boa and Mill Avenue Ink currently occupy the space.
Sanchez said those businesses and the recently defunct Long Wong's would have the first right or refusal to sign a lease in the new building, before other retail businesses.
The existing wood building occupies roughly 6,000 square feet. The new two-story structure would expand the space to more than 19,000 square feet.
"We are using weathered steel, stucco, and brick," said Stuart Siefer of Siefer Associates Architecture working on the project. "This is the opportunity for things that have made downtown unique."
Caffe Boa administrative staff said they haven't decided whether they want to move into the new building.
"We're not sure yet where we will be," said Caffe Boa general manger Casey Minard. "No one really knows. We will definitely be around though."
Over the years, the building has endured wood rot as well as termite damage, Siefer said. Originally the building consisted of two houses built in the 1940s, he added.
"Most people in the downtown area with older properties are deciding to meet the high density of downtown," Siefer said.
Siefer said he hopes to transfer the steel artwork currently displayed on the outside of the building to the new structure.
Blueprints for the building have not been created yet. The owner and leasing agent of the building are trying to secure leases with future tenants before beginning the project, Siefer said.
Danny Little, a real estate agent at DWL Real Estate Services applied for City of Tempe permits, which, if approved, would allow the building's owners to raze the existing structure and landscape. The permits also would allow developers to build a parking lot and general office, along with retail businesses and restaurants with outdoor dining.
The permits were introduced for a first public hearing to Tempe City Council Sept. 9. A second hearing will take place Sept. 30 at City Hall during a regularly scheduled council meeting.
"We hope to be done by summer," Sanchez said, "We won't know until the 30th."
Siefer Associates have worked on about 150 projects in downtown Tempe, "I, like a lot of people, am sorry to see the old individual business go," Siefer said. "I think, hopefully the new building will retain some of the character of downtown."
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Britney Spears' mum Lynne has ruined the singer's plans to have a pre-wedding tattoo session with her fiancee before their marriage ceremony.
According to Teenhollywood the star and dancer Kevin Federline have already had a set of matching tattoos together earlier this year - Britney had a pair of pink dice on her left inner wrist, while Federline opted for a larger image of blue dice on his right forearm.
The pop star and her husband-to-be were planning to get another set of body artwork on their wedding morning in November to bless their marriage, and have been pouring over designs for weeks.
A friend said: "They want to get something symbolic that will mean something for them in years to come".
The couple had planned to go under the needle hours before the ceremony, but Lynne has halted the plans.
The 22-year-old star is furious at her mum's decision, but Lynne is insisting that the marriage should be traditional - and that means the bride not seeing the groom in the morning.
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