New York Zombie Defense Workout Blog

Wimp Keeps Complaining

2007-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Man told to 'walk off pain' after shooting
Star News Services
Saturday, August 18, 2007

JOHANNESBURG - A South African man shot three weeks ago was told to "walk the pain off" and is still trying to persuade hospitals to remove the bullet lodged in his side, a newspaper said Thursday.

Three Johannesburg hospitals refused to remove the bullet for security guard Phillip Mashiane, 38, who was shot during a burglary at the property of South Africa's ambassador to the United Nations, the Star newspaper said.

The bullet passed through his elbow and entered his body just above the hip, missed his vital organs and stopped beneath the skin on the opposite side of his body, the Star said.

Mashiane said he was turned away by one private hospital because he could not afford the bills while a public hospital took X-rays and kept him in for observation before patching him up and sending him home with painkillers.

When he returned a doctor told him to "walk the pain off."

Today's Children Stab Cows For Kicks

2007-08-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Teen accused of running over, stabbing cows
The Associated Press
August 20, 2007

PLEASANT PLAINS — A teenager has been arrested on animal cruelty charges after he reportedly stabbed a cow and tried to run over a herd of cattle, authorities said.

The youth, who was not identified because of his age, faces charges of first-degree cruelty to animals and first-degree criminal mischief, Pleasant Plains Marshal Matt Thomas said.

Thomas said he was dispatched to a farm at about 10 p.m. Friday because three boys in a pickup were reportedly running over cattle, he said.

Thomas said a youth had a knife and his arms were bloody. Jay L. Smith, owner of the cattle, told police that one of the cows had been fatally stabbed, and several cows were wounded.

“The juvenile was driving the Ford Ranger in the field. He was driving fast and cutting doughnuts,” Thomas said, adding that the teen was joined by two older friends. “According to the two, the juvenile then started purposely trying to hit the cows.”

One of the cows apparently got stuck under the pickup, and that’s when the youth stabbed it, Thomas said.

The teen was taken to the Independence County juvenile detention facility.

Last week, nine black angus cows were shot at a farm near DeQueen; five died.

No-Fun Janitor Turns On, Tunes In, Sues

2007-08-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Janitor: Co-workers put LSD on pizza
August 20, 2007

HACKENSACK, N.J. --A Fair Lawn school custodian is alleging in a lawsuit that his co-workers laced his pizza with the hallucinogen LSD in an attempt to poison him at an office party in 2005.

Dominick A. Rao, a janitor with the district since 2000, was served pizza out of a different box than the other custodians, his attorney, Richard Mazawey, told The Record of Bergen County for Monday editions.

"He said he felt like his body and system were melting from the inside out, like he was living in a kaleidoscope," Mazawey told the newspaper.

Soon after, Rao went to an emergency room at an area hospital where it was found that he "had a controlled dangerous substance running through his bloodstream," Mazawey said.

Rao said he has extremely poor vision due to bilateral ocular albinism, a condition that causes his eyes to lack pigment. Because of this, he said he was often bullied by his supervisor and co-workers.

When Rao returned to work after the alleged incident, a co-worker asked him, "How are you still alive," the suit says.

"Upon hearing this, he realized how extensive the plot to poison him truly was," the suit says.

Schools Superintendent Bruce Watson declined to comment on the suit, which was filed in Superior Court in Hackensack, saying he had not received a copy.

Rao filed a police report more than a year after the alleged incident but no criminal charges have been brought against anyone.

Dead Dog Treated Like Dead Dog

2007-08-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

In death, service dog treated as roadkill
Linda Goldston, Mercury News
08/21/2007

It was bad enough for Richard Gambord to learn that his missing service dog was killed a short time after he crashed his van and the dog ran off.

Then, he learned that the golden retriever's battered body had already been disposed of - mixed in with roadkill and grease at a San Jose rendering plant.

"It's just so sickening," Gambord said. "They took this esteemed and loved dog and hauled him away like he was roadkill. It makes me sick."

A Caltrans worker took Quinn's remains to San Jose Tallow the same night he was killed - a violation of Caltrans policy, a Caltrans spokeswoman said.

To Gambord of Los Gatos and the college student who spent more than a year training him, Quinn was treated with no more respect than motorists show squashed squirrels.

Brigetta Smith, public information officer for Caltrans confirmed that the dog was taken there even though it violated the department's procedure. Road crews are supposed to take the body of a dog or cat to an animal shelter so it can be scanned for an ID chip - and the owner can be notified, she said.

In this case, Gambord and others searched for a week for the dog that was wearing a collar and a purple cape with the logo for Assistance Dog Institute.

Based in Santa Rosa, the institute places nine to 15 assistance dogs each year and there is always a waiting list. Quinn was placed with Gambord, who has multiple sclerosis, three weeks ago, and the dog already had helped Gambord take a few steps without fear of falling.

"We certainly didn't want it to end this way," said Jorjan Powers, community and public relations director for the institute. "It's just an unhappy ending no matter how you look at it."

Smith said Caltrans is reviewing its procedures "to make sure this doesn't happen again."

A California Highway Patrol officer who removed the dog's body from the roadway told Caltrans the dog was wearing a collar and its purple uniform. The Caltrans worker who picked up Quinn, however, said he did not see the cape or the collar.

"I've asked our guys to review the agreement we have with the rendering plant to make sure they won't accept domestic animals from us," Smith said. "There should be safeguards on both ends."

Gambord and Quinn were returning home from an outing Aug. 12 when Gambord said he heard his dog choking in the back of the van. The next thing he knew he had crashed into some bushes on the Interstate 280-880 interchange in San Jose. The van's door flew open and Quinn bolted out about 1 a.m. Authorities think the dog was hit by a car about an hour later.

"He kept getting hit so the CHP ran a traffic break so Caltrans could pick him up," Smith said. "We picked him up about 2 a.m. right at northbound 280 to northbound 880."

Smith said Caltrans used to take all dead animals it removed from roadways in the South Bay to the rendering plant, but it changed its procedure two years ago to take only wild animals.

Caltrans used to have a contract with the humane society that allowed them to drop off the dead bodies of cats or dogs that had been killed on a freeway or expressway, but "Caltrans chose not to renew it," said Chris Benninger, executive director of Humane Society Silicon Valley.

Peggy Leyba of San Jose Tallow said the manager could not be reached Monday. Commonly, the dead animals taken to tallow plants are boiled down to oil that goes into a range of products, including fertilizer, soap and stock feed.

"They do accept dead dogs," Leyba said, but she had no information about the products produced.

Powers said the staff of the institute plans to hold a memorial for Quinn, and meet to discuss what happened. "We plan to meet and see if there isn't some good that can come out of this tragedy."

One-Legged Man Ambitious, Prolific

2007-08-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

Arab father on pace for 18 wives, 100 kids
CanWest News Service

DUBAI - A one-legged Emirati father of 78 is lining up his next two wives in a bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015, Emirates Today reported on Monday.

Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already had 15 brides, although he has to divorce them as he goes along to remain within the legal limit of four wives at a time.

"In 2015 I will be 68 years old and will have 100 children," Abdul Rahman told the local tabloid. "After that I will stop marrying. I have to have at least three more marriages to hit the century."

The United Arab Emirates newspaper splashed its front page with a picture of Abdul Rahman surrounded by his children, the eldest of whom is 36 years old and the youngest of whom is 20 days old. Two of his current three wives are also pregnant.

Abdul Rahman said his large family lived in 15 houses. He supports them with his military pension and the help of the government of Ajman, one of seven emirates that comprise the UAE, which includes Dubai, a hub of Gulf trade and tourism.

Islam allows men to marry up to four women at a time, though most marry only one.

Elves Advise Murderous Child

2007-08-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

'Craziest child' on trial in Westminster slaying
Friend's father was slain at home in Westminster
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
August 21, 2007

Michael Tate has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals since he was 5 years old and shouldn't be convicted of murdering his friend's father because he is insane, a defense attorney told a Jefferson County jury Monday.

His psychiatrists say he is "the craziest child they have ever seen," defense attorney Margaret Baker said during opening statements at his murder trial.

Tate is accused of stabbing and bludgeoning Steven Fitzgerald, 41, to death during a burglary of the Fitzgerald family's Westminster home Nov. 8, 2004.

Tate and Fitzgerald's son, Michael, were runaways from a social services placement and had been living in vacant buildings near the Fitzgerald home. Fitzgerald was 17; Tate was 16.

Michael Fitzgerald is serving a 62-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Tate. Baker said Fitzgerald's version of events can't be trusted because he has a history of lying and manipulation.

But she conceded that her client "can't say what happened either. Michael Tate's memory is not accurate because he's literally out of his mind."

Tate has been hearing voices since age 6 and seeing things since age 8, Baker said. Six years ago, he began seeing Satan, demons and elves who commanded him to hurt himself or others, Baker said. He tried to commit suicide numerous times, including once when he was 12 in a psychiatric hospital, she added.

He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Placed with social services at age 3 because of abuse, Tate was moved 28 times in 13 years between foster homes, psychiatric hospitals and other institutions.

Although an expert for the defense contends Tate is insane, prosecutor Jacque Russell said a psychiatrist at the state mental hospital concluded Tate is sane.

While at the hospital for four months, Tate showed no symptoms of mental illness even though he was not on any medications, Russell said. The doctor concluded that Tate was an angry young man who flew into rages and couldn't control his temper, Russell said.

He was diagnosed as having a conduct disorder - a precursor for antisocial personality, meaning he disregards and violates the rights of others, she said.

"But that is not insanity," Russell said. "What he did was criminal, not insane."

Tate told Michael Fitzgerald that he wanted to kill Fitzgerald's family the day before the murder, when the two burglarized the home the first time, stealing computers and other electronic gear, Russell said.

After killing Steven Fitzgerald, Tate hid his bloody gloves in a vent and began eating a quart of cookie dough ice cream, Russell said. When he was arrested, he was wearing Steven Fitzgerald's ring and a rosary and a cross necklace belonging to the family.

Youth Thought It Was Safe To Text

2007-08-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Train strikes man who was texting
August 21, 2007

ELMWOOD PLACE, Ohio --A train struck and injured a pedestrian who was sending a text message on his cell phone while crossing railroad tracks, a collision that hurled him about 50 feet, authorities and witnesses said Monday.

Zachariah Smith, 18, waited for a southbound train to pass Monday morning. He then walked around a gate and onto the tracks, apparently unaware that another train was coming from the other direction, said witness Mike Billups.

"The horn was blowing like mad and the kid was text messaging," said Mayor Richard Ellison, who went to the scene and talked to several witnesses after hearing of the accident. "The kid apparently was just daydreaming."

Smith was knocked out by the collision, Billups said.

After regaining consciousness, Smith was taken by paramedics to nearby University Hospital in Cincinnati with undisclosed injuries. He was listed in serious condition Monday night.

It was not clear how fast the train was moving.

Gates and lights at the crossing were in working order, said Elmwood Place police Col. William Peskin.

Sexual-Looking Room Was Sex Room

2007-08-21T13:48:00.001-07:00

Harrah's settles suit claiming female kitchen workers were subjected to 'makeshift sex room'
Ryan Nakashima, AP
August 20, 2007

LAS VEGAS – Caesars Palace, the casino owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by seven female kitchen helpers and a male supervisor, federal officials said Monday.

The employees complained that the women, ranging in age from 19 to their 40s, were forced to have sex with other supervisors in a “makeshift sex room” under the threat of being fired, said Anna Park, an attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The room in the kitchen area had a sofa or bed, often wine, and was decorated “to make it look sexual,” said Federico Sayre, the lawyer for the four women who suffered the worst abuse.

Park said the room was “a dirty little secret that was there for a long time.”

“When they took you back there, they knew that's what that was for,” she said. “That shouldn't exist in any workplace.”

Beyond the sex acts, which began in 2000, the women were subjected to daily sexual comments or requests, Park and Sayre said. Many could speak only Spanish and were vulnerable to authority figures, they said.

The women, who mostly cleaned silverware, complained as early as 2001 to a human resources manager, but the manager did not investigate the allegations thoroughly because she had a relationship with one of the men involved, Sayre said.

Three male supervisors involved in the abuse have since been fired, but the human resources manager is still employed by the company, Sayre said.

Harrah's did not admit wrongdoing but determined “it is in the best interest of all parties to put this matter to rest and move on,” spokesman Alberto Lopez said. The incidents happened before Harrah's acquired Caesars Entertainment Inc. in 2005.

Harrah's agreed to post English and Spanish copies of the settlement, which mandates that it institute sexual harassment training, develop a system and appoint a person to address complaints and retain a third-party consultant to ensure it complies.

It was unclear whether the former supervisors might face criminal charges. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he was unfamiliar with the allegations and the statute of limitations on at least some of the incidents had expired.

Firefighters Shirtless, Deceitful

2007-08-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Not the topless car wash they expected
August 20, 2007
AP

SHIRLEY, N.Y. --Male drivers who paid $5 for a topless car wash ended up getting hosed.

Young women held up signs along a parkway advertising the car wash on Sunday and telling the drivers where to go. But hidden behind a big blue tarp, it was shirtless male firefighters who were washing the cars.

"A little bit of a bait-and-switch," Assistant Chief Donald Prince admitted. "All the guys back there are all topless."

Female drivers didn't seem to mind the shirtless firefighters. Male drivers, though, felt they were getting burned.

Mike Matias was hugely disappointed when a man soaped up and rinsed his car. But he said at least his $5 went to a good cause: All the money raised will benefit school booster clubs and charities, the Brookhaven fire department said.

Presidential Candidate Blames Crime On Brown People

2007-08-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

Presidential Candidate Blames Killings on Newark Sanctuary Policy
Kareem Fahim, NYT
August 21, 2007

NEWARK, Aug. 20 — Federal officials said on Monday that a second man among the suspects in the schoolyard slayings of three young friends was in the United States illegally, and a conservative presidential candidate flew into town to denounce the city’s leaders as complicit in the murders because they had declared Newark a “sanctuary” for immigrants.

“If the suspects are found guilty, Newark and its political leadership share a degree of responsibility,” Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, said on the steps of the gold-domed City Hall, surrounded by a dozen supporters and slightly more protesters who rallied against him. “I encourage the family of the victims to pursue a lawsuit against the city.”

Mr. Tancredo, whose bid for the Republican nomination is based largely on an aggressive stance against illegal immigration, is among the many conservatives nationwide who seized on the killings after it was reported that one of the suspects, Jose Lachira Carranza, 28, was an illegal immigrant from Peru.

Before the killings, Mr. Carranza had been arrested three times on felony charges but had been released on bail, in part because the authorities never checked his immigration status. Doing so would likely have triggered a federal “detainer” that would have kept Mr. Carranza in custody to await deportation proceedings.

On Monday, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency placed a similar detainer on Melvin Jovel, 18, who on Sunday was the sixth person to be arrested in the case. Immigration officials said Mr. Jovel, who was from Honduras, also was in the country illegally.

A third man, Rodolfo Godinez, 24, a legal resident who immigrated from Nicaragua, and three teenagers also face murder and robbery charges for the shooting deaths of Iofemi Hightower, 20; Dashon Harvey, 20; and Terrance Aeriel, 18, on Aug. 4 behind the Mount Vernon School. Mr. Aeriel’s sister Natasha, 19, was also shot, but survived.

At a news conference that was held before Mr. Tancredo’s speech, Paula T. Dow, the Essex County prosecutor, whose office was one of several law enforcement agencies that failed to examine Mr. Carranza’s immigration status, shifted the blame to the federal authorities. Officials in Ms. Dow’s office had said their policy was to not notify immigration officials until suspects were convicted, which they believed was the officials’ preference.

Ms. Dow also pointed out that an official from Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been stationed in the county jail since March and that Mr. Carranza had been held there in May.

“They would have an opportunity to perhaps take action,” Ms. Dow said, referring to Mr. Carranza. Concerning Mr. Tancredo’s visit, Ms. Dow said, “I think it’s absolutely abysmal that anyone would challenge and accuse or lay the blame on the Newark Police Department or anyone in law enforcement for the status of Carranza.”

Newark’s mayor, Cory A. Booker, found himself answering questions about Mr. Tancredo at the news conference. He reacted angrily to the visit.

“These folks descend from out of town to protest in front of City Hall at this time; I find that troubling,” he said. “Talking about anyone being complicit in such a heinous crime — I find those words vulgar.”

Mr. Booker; his police director, Garry F. McCarthy; and the police chief, Anthony Campos, flanked by detectives, gave few additional details about the night of the shooting.

For the first time, Mr. Booker acknowledged the “gang overtones” of the case. Several of the suspects boasted, to friends and on Web pages, of an affinity with MS-13, a gang from El Salvador.

In an interview on Monday at their office, Detective Lydell A. James, the lead Newark investigator on the case, and Sgt. Darnell Henry spoke about their work over the last two weeks, during which the six suspects were arrested in three states. They said the investigation was exhausting but had produced results more quickly than anticipated.

“It was smooth,” Sergeant Henry said.

They spoke only generally about the evidence, saying they did not wish to compromise the prosecution.

Ms. Aeriel, despite her serious injuries, was able to begin speaking to investigators almost immediately, and her help was essential in finding the suspects, they said. They also praised security guards, many of them retired police officers, who worked at the Ivy Hill Park Apartments, where all of the suspects were current or former residents. “They knew the six,” Detective James said. “They knew the troublemakers.”

The investigation has taken its toll. Sergeant Henry rifled through bills in his drawer that he had meant to pay weeks ago. Detective James pointed to a couch in an adjoining room, saying he would catch an hour or so of sleep there or in a green chair in his office. The detective said he visited Ms. Aeriel in the hospital every day.

“I love that girl to death,” he said, adding that he was angry that her identity had been released to the public. “This is why witnesses are reluctant to come forward.”

There were fights between the detectives — soon resolved, they said — and thrilling moments when they could see the end of the chase.

One came over the weekend, as the two of them raced back in a car from Virginia, having found the evidence they needed to arrest Mr. Jovel. “We’re on the highway, and it’s getting dark,” Detective James said. “We had enough probable cause.”

"Mr. Check" Took Three Months To Die

2007-08-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Man dies nearly 3 months after shooting
August 21, 2007

The Associated Press

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) —A man shot three times while cashing checks from his car died nearly three months after the shooting, Spartanburg County deputies said.

Juan Carlos Vivoda died Monday at the hospital where he had been since being shot in the head, neck and lower back on May 31, authorities said.

Vivoda, 59, ran a business he called “Mr. Check,” cashing checks from his car which he parked at a plastics plant, said Robin Forrest, an investigator with the coroner’s office.

Police have charged Franciso Jadier Martinez, 21, and Norberto Ruis Cruz, 19, with assault and battery with intent to kill and armed robbery. Martinez has been arrested, while Cruz is still at large.

Investigators are waiting for autopsy results to determine if the gunshots were the primary cause of Vivoda’s death before talking to prosecutors about whether to upgrade the charges against the men, sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Dan Johnson said.

Ranch Hand's Skull Crushed For $200,000

2007-08-21T13:42:00.001-07:00

Second conviction in murder of ranch hand for insurance money
The Associated Press
08/21/2007

ELKO, Nev. - An Elko County man whose wife is serving a life sentence for the 2003 killing of their ranch hand was found guilty on Monday of the same crime.

A jury in Elko found John Vernon Fields guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the beating death of his former ranch hand, Jaromir Palensky.

Fields' wife, Linda, was convicted earlier of the same crime and was sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

The jury received John Fields' case on Friday and returned its verdict just before noon Monday. The judge will hand down his sentence later after conferring with both sides.

Palensky was found in January 2004 in the frigid Jordan River near Salt Lake City. His head was crushed, his boots were missing, and his wallet was not where a witness said he kept it. By most accounts, the Czech immigrant was last seen alive at the Fields' ranch east of Elko, where he worked after being released from a DUI-related prison sentence in October of 2003.

In closing arguments on Friday, the prosecution and defense acknowledged there was no direct evidence linking Vern Fields to Palensky's death. They differed, however, on how much weight should be assigned to an abundance of circumstantial evidence.

Deputy District Attorney Troy Jordan told jurors whoever killed Palensky was certainly stronger than the small Linda Fields. While a murder weapon was never found, medical examiners said Palensky was struck with a pipe, ax handle or baseball bat with such force the blows cracked his skull in three places and bruised his brain.

Jordan reminded jurors the Fieldses told people Palensky simply left, but told others he was fired and, according to one witness, Linda Fields even confessed to killing the man because he had molested a 2-year-old relative. No evidence has been produced to indicate the child was harmed by Palensky or anyone else.

Jordan said the circumstantial evidence indicated Palensky was killed somewhere on the ranch, his body was placed in the bed of a Toyota pickup and transported to Utah, where it was dumped.

"Vern Fields had 300,000 reasons to kill Jerry Palensky," said Jordan, referring to a $300,000 life insurance policy Linda Fields took out on the man and named herself as beneficiary.

In his closing, defense attorney Roger Stewart told the jury there was no evidence his client killed Palensky and there was no weapon.

"This is a very thin case," Stewart said. "It's thinner now than it was when we began."

Stewart also hypothesized Palensky was killed in Utah and challenged the county's jurisdiction since it could not be proved the victim was killed in Elko. He also suggested his client was at the mercy of an overbearing wife and questioned whether the motive theorized by the state held merit.

Arsonist RA Took Dryer Warnings Seriously

2007-08-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

BYU resident adviser charged with arson
The Associated Press
08/21/2007

Posted: 11:15 AM- PROVO - A 22-year-old residence adviser from Brigham Young University has been charged with aggravated arson.

Austin Horton was charged connection with an early-morning fire on March 9 at May Hall, where Horton lived and served as an RA. His first court appearance is September 6th. He hasn't been arrested.

According to Capt. Mike Harroun of the BYU police, a pile of rags or dryer lint that had been sprayed with cooking oil was found smoldering in the kitchen area of the building's basement.

Deputy county attorney Chad Grunander says the charge is aggravated because the fire was in an inhabited building.

Horton is still enrolled as a student at BYU, though he is no longer working as an RA. An honor code review for Horton is under way.

Pyro Firefighter Blows Self Up

2007-08-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Firefighter charged with exploding pipe bomb
Bevin Milavsky, Lehigh Valley Live
August 21, 2007 11:27AM

A Bethlehem firefighter was arrested this morning and has been suspended by the department for allegedly setting off a pipe bomb behind his home in May.

City police said Steven Pasco, 39, of the 1400 block of High Street suffered vision damage, ringing in his ears and cuts to his face after the alleged May 26 incident.

He was taken to the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. He admitted "it was a stupid thing to do," according to court papers.

Pasco told police he was using "a double mortar tube" device with gunpowder. When he lit the fuse, the device blew up in his face. The device, which fire officials said was illegal, was deemed "extremely dangerous and hazardous."

Pasco told police the device was a civil war replica cannon used by re-enactors. But an expert at Gettysburg National Military Park said that is not the case.

He was arraigned before District Judge James Narlesky on charges of arson and related offenses: possession of explosive or incendiary materials or devices; reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He was released on $100,000 bail.

Bethlehem Fire Commissioner George Barkanic issued a news release about 3:30 this afternoon stating, "Firefighter Steve J. Pasco has been suspended with full pay until further notice. This is a personnel issue and no additional comments will be forthcoming from the Bethlehem Fire Department at this time."

Study Finds Surfers "Awesome"

2007-08-21T13:35:00.002-07:00

Hawaii surfer donates boards for Gazans
AP
August 21, 2007

JERUSALEM --An 86-year-old Jewish surfing guru from Hawaii is bringing good vibrations to the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Dorian Paskowitz, a retired doctor, donated 12 surfboards to Gaza's small surfing community on Tuesday in a novel gesture to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

"God will surf with the devil if the waves are good," Paskowitz said. "When a surfer sees another surfer with a board, he can't help but say something that brings them together."

The chiseled Paskowitz emerged shirtless at the Israel-Gaza crossing after handing over the dozen boards to Gaza surfers waiting on the other side. He said he was inspired after reading a story about two Gaza surfers who could not enjoy the wild waves off the coastal strip because they had only one board to share between them.

Arthur Rashkovan, a 28-year-old surfer from Tel Aviv, said Paskowitz's project was part of a larger effort called "Surfing for Peace," aimed at bringing Middle East surfers closer together. He said eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, who is of Syrian descent, is expected to arrive in Israel in October to take part in the drive.

Paskowitz, whom Rashkovan called a "guru" to Israeli surfers, has surfed in Israel several times over the past five decades.

Paskowitz, a father of nine, served in the Navy during World War II, practiced family medicine for more than half a century and has published books on surfing and health. He said he has surfed for 75 years in locations all over the world, and he ranks the waves off the coasts of Israel and Gaza as among the world's best.

"It's really quite remarkable how good they are for modern surfing," he said.

Arrowed!

2007-08-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

Vista man to stand trial in killing of neighbor's cat
August 21, 2007

VISTA – A Vista man must stand trial this fall for allegedly shooting a former neighbor's cat to death with two arrows.

A judge Monday set an an Oct. 9 trial date for Robert Eugene Brunner, 47, who is charged with two counts of animal cruelty in the death of Bill, a 3-year-old orange tabby.

A woman testified in pre-trial proceedings that Brunner said he fired at the feline because it was “pissing all over” his yard on Plymouth Drive.

The woman said she was waiting in a trailer where Brunner lived while he fixed her car on the night of April 9, 2006, and he came in muttering that a cat was stuck to a tree and he had to get it off before the property owner saw it.

She conceded she never saw the cat or the tree, but witnessed the defendant digging up a palm tree later that night.

A 10-year-old boy testified that he spotted Bill, with the arrows still embedded in the animal, in a neighbor's yard on April 12 last year and notified the owner, Janeen Bubien.

The arrows were surgically removed, but the cat died two days later.

Brunner has already been found civilly liable for the feline's death. After he was sued by Bubien, the case was settled for $2,500, and a judge added $5,000 to the settlement to help the woman move away.

Fat Man Steals From Restaurants

2007-08-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Police say man cheated eateries, stores
Report: Clerk stalls, foils moldy-beef-jerky scam

Rene Stutzman and Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
August 21, 2007

SANFORD - A 550-pound man accused of cheating several restaurants by claiming he had found hair in his food was in jail Monday. This time, it was for talking a clerk out of $120 by claiming he had bought 30 bags of moldy beef jerky, according to police.

George Walter Jolicoeur, 35, of Sanford was being held in the Seminole County Jail on $12,500 bail. He was arrested at his home Saturday.

According to Mount Dora police, Jolicoeur talked a convenience-store clerk out of $120 on April 21, claiming that he had earlier bought beef jerky that had gone bad.

He also told the clerk he was a police officer and was organizing a children's charity event, said Robbin Mayfield, a Mount Dora police spokeswoman.

Jolicoeur tried the same thing during the weekend at a convenience store near Oviedo, according to a Seminole County Sheriff's Office report.

He walked into a 7-Eleven, saying that he had bought $50 worth of moldy beef jerky and wanted a refund, according to the report. The clerk, though, recognized him from earlier news reports and tried to stall, but Jolicoeur left.

Sanford police went to his home a short time later. From inside, they heard a man, pretending to be a woman, say that Jolicoeur was not there. Then they heard another voice say, " 'George, just turn yourself in,' " according to the report. He did moments later, the report stated.

No one answered the door at that home Monday.

Jolicoeur has a history of similar crimes, according to records. In 2005, he pleaded no contest to five crimes, all involving restaurants. Among them: He claimed he found hair in five steak sandwiches from a Firehouse Subs restaurant and received a $36 refund; and he received a $31 refund from Steak 'N Shake after complaining that he had found hair in six milkshakes.

In the early and mid-1990s, records show, Jolicoeur served time in state prison for crimes ranging from dealing in stolen property to drugs.

Forgot His Fellow Officer In The Car

2007-08-21T03:57:00.000-07:00

Hundreds gather to honor fallen K-9 officer
Katie McDevitt, East Valley Tribune

Nearly 200 people and 50 dogs amassed Sunday evening to honor Bandit, a Chandler police K-9 who died when his trainer forgot him in a police vehicle.

The group held glowing candles Sunday evening at Chandler’s Shawnee Park while pet collars jingled and dogs barked.

“I tried to explain it to my buddy here, but he doesn’t understand,” said Cave Creek resident Fred Mueller, while looking down at his Golden Lab, Rolph. “It was an accident—poor guy.”

Community activists and Chandler Police Chief Sherry Kiyler attended the memorial organized by self-described animal lovers. Phoenix resident Glenn Hammond paid for the memorial along with his two friends Allison Teska, of Mesa, and Tricia Gillespie, of Phoenix.

“I could not understand, like much of the community, how this happened,” Hammond said. “Why we’re doing this? There’s really no answer other than we’re just unbelievably touched.”

Ever since the public learned of Bandit’s death, the community has led an emotionally charged attack on Sgt. Tom Lovejoy, who left the dog for about 13 hours in a police vehicle outside his home.

Leah Ayers of Gilbert said her initial anger at news of bandit’s death subsided to sadness. “I pulled up and I had tears in my eyes,” said the owner of three cats, who added that she would like to adopt a dog.

Many who came added flowers, trinkets and pictures to a makeshift memorial, including a dogless collar.

The Chandler Police Department is conducting an internal affairs investigation to determine if Lovejoy violated any policies. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has begun a criminal investigation since Lovejoy lives in a county island.

Chandler police spokesman Sgt. Rick Griner said the department intends to have a private memorial for Bandit.

Cheerleader's Favorite Color Was Pink

2007-08-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

Boyfriend charged in stabbing death of Gateway teen
By Brian C. Rittmeyer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Monday, August 20, 2007

Police filed homicide charges Sunday against an 18-year-old Monroeville man accused of stabbing his 16-year-old cheerleader girlfriend to death and then trying to kill himself.

The charges were filed shortly before about 1,500 people gathered at Gateway High School to remember Demi Brae Cuccia, who died Wednesday.

"The outpouring of friendship and love for our family has been overwhelming," the girl's mother, Jodi Cuccia, of Monroeville, told the crowd.

The suspect, John Mullarkey Jr., is under police guard at his bed at Allegheny General Hospital, North Side, said Monroeville assistant police Chief Doug Cole. Police said Mullarkey attacked Demi Cuccia at her home before slashing his own throat in an apparent murder-suicide attempt.

According to court documents, Cuccia suffered 16 stab wounds to her upper torso, and an autopsy determined the cause of death was a stab wound to the left shoulder.

Police said they found a folding knife with a 3 1/2-inch blade on the living room floor of the Cuccia home on Elliot Road.

According to court documents, a witness, whom police did not identify, told police of hearing hysterical screams coming from the Cuccia home Wednesday evening. The witness reportedly saw Demi Cuccia walk outside, her chest covered with blood, and twice scream, "He stabbed me!"

The witness then saw Mullarkey come outside, and Cuccia screamed, "Get away from me! I hate you! I hate you!" before losing consciousness. Mullarkey walked a short distance away from the witness before falling unconscious.

The documents say a paramedic called to the scene asked Mullarkey who had hurt him. He reportedly responded: "I did this."

An Allegheny General spokeswoman would not release a report on Mullarkey's condition yesterday. According to court documents, he suffered a severe neck laceration.

The first witness told police of hearing Demi Cuccia and Mullarkey arguing in the past.

A second unidentified witness said Cuccia told her Tuesday that Cuccia had received text messages from Mullarkey indicating he intended to harm her, according to court documents.

A third witness said he was present on Aug. 12, when Mullarkey confronted Cuccia at her home and started a loud, violent argument with her, court documents say. Previously, Cuccia's friends described Mullarkey as possessive and controlling, forbidding her to wear a bikini or travel out of town for a summer cheerleading camp.

The 1,500 students, parents, friends and relatives gathered at Gateway's Harry J. Furrie Sports Complex to remember Demi Cuccia in a vigil organized by the Gateway Cheerleading Booster Club.

Many participants wore black-and-white T-shirts bearing an image of her.

Mourners used pink, Cuccia's favorite color, in her memory.

School counselor Colleen Tortorella said staff will be there for Gateway students when they return to class next Monday.

"Don't think for a moment Demi won't be on our minds," she said. "We truly are here for you if you need us, always."

Tears and sadness filled the vigil, but there was laughter as well when Demi's mother read from one of her daughter's writings, "Life Is Short, Enjoy It," about her interests, favorite things, pet peeves and her plans for her future.

Her interests included typical teenage pastimes: listening to music, talking on the phone, going to movies and shopping. Her two heroes: her mother and Jessica Simpson. Her fears: needles and Indians.

She hoped to attend college, become a doctor or lawyer and having a family with a house near the beach, her mother said.

"I just want to thank you and everyone in my family thanks you for your love and your support. We love you, and Demi loves you too," Jodi Cuccia said.

A no-flame rule prohibited the use of candles, but organizers asked participants to wave their lighted cell phones to the song "I Will Remember You."

At the end of the vigil filled with word, song and prayer, her fellow cheerleaders released dozens of pink balloons into a dark, rainy sky.

Virginia Is For Crack

2007-08-20T09:43:00.001-07:00

Va. alters tourism ad campaign after blooper with gang sign
Aug 20, 2007
William C. Flook, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Virginia’s Tourism Corp. has altered an upcoming campaign after revelations that characters in a series of ads were unknowingly making hand signs used by a Chicago gang.

The planned advertisements, meant to entice visitors to the Old Dominion, featured Virginians making a heart-shaped sign by touching together their index fingers and thumbs, a reference to the “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan. But, apparently unbeknownst to tourism officials, the gesture is used by the Gangster Disciples, which the FBI calls “one of the most violent of four African American gangs that hang out on the South Side of Chicago.”

The tourism agency said Friday it has removed the hand signs from the ads.

“For the majority of people, the heart sign is a symbol of love, and the campaign’s images intended to convey a love of travel and a love of Virginia,” Alisa Bailey, the agency’s president, said in a statement. “A heart has been our symbol since 1969 and we were looking for new ways to express it.”

The Chicago-based gang is known for its large-scale crack-cocaine operations and was featured in a chapter of the best-seller “Freakonomics” in which a sociology graduate student gained the trust of gang members to learn about the group’s operational structure.

“Out of respect to those who have concerns about the use of this symbol, we will adjust the creative images in our ad campaign to eliminate any further misinterpretation of the heart/hand symbol,” Bailey’s statement said. “We regret if anyone interpreted the symbol as anything other than a symbol of love as was intended.”

Children Like Explosions

2007-08-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

'Awesome' collapse impresses the crowds
Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News
Aug. 19, 2007

Cheers erupted from a crowd gathered at the corner of 200 West and North Temple as the former Key Bank tower fell Saturday morning and a plume of dark dust billowed from the site.

Within seconds, the dust plume spread to the area where a few dozen spectators watched, some wearing dust masks.

"That was awesome," Chrislyn Barnes, 26, of Salt Lake City, said as she quickly donned her dust mask. "I'm very impressed it came down so fast."

Her friend, Joel Dayton, called the implosion "incredible" as the two watched a replay on their camera. "That's so cool."

Barnes, who works downtown at Deseret Book, has been watching the demolition in preparation for the City Creek Center.

"If I'm here I want to see it live," she said. "It's totally a process," she said of the mall demolitions under way in anticipation of the new City Creek Center. "It's a wonderful project for Salt Lake City. The downtown has great potential."

At 200 West and North Temple, children climbed a tree to get a better view. A group of students from Brigham Young University waved signs reading "ka-boom."

Ryan Lund, 23, saw the implosion announced on TV, and "the news told us not to go, so we said, 'We'll go."'

"A Child Is Being Beaten"

2007-08-20T04:39:00.002-07:00

A killer, but not legally a predator
Loophole could mean looser reins if he gets paroled
August 19, 2007
Barbara Carmen, The Columbus DIspatch

A photograph of Barbara Sue Caulley lies atop a scrapbook she kept as a child. She was murdered in 1988.

On the morning 14-year-old Barbara Sue Caulley was killed, a neighbor went out to his porch to smoke a cigarette. He later told police he heard a girl "screaming bloody murder" for six minutes.

He figured a kid was getting punished. He was wrong about that, but it was bloody.

The girl, killed July 17, 1988, was stabbed 56 times. Her body was found a day later, stuffed behind a ratty sofa in a relative's earthen cellar in Harrison West.

Columbus police think that Robert Lee Wells tried to rape Barbara Sue and killed her when she resisted. Wounds on her hands and arms showed that the eighth-grader fought hard to live. Her throat was slit.

Wells has served 19 years of a 25-year sentence and could walk free soon. Now 44, he was granted parole in June but remains in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution as the Caulley family fights his release.

"He is absolutely going to go after someone else's little girl" if he gets out of prison, Evelyn Caulley, Barbara Sue's mother, said last week.

Here's another thing that frightens her: Wells can't be branded a sexual predator. Ohio's law has a loophole.

Lawmakers attached the warning label to the crime of involuntary manslaughter but not to the crime of voluntary manslaughter, which a judge found Wells guilty of.

"She was just like any other teenager," Caulley recalled. Her daughter was enjoying the summer. Barbara Sue ran the neighborhood with her cousins and spent nights at the nearby homes of a grandmother, aunts and uncles.

But, Caulley said, a brother of her sister-in-law's who was visiting that summer made her nervous. "When Robert Lee Wells was around, we all kept our eyes on our kids."

Wells once carved messages on walls saying he'd sold his soul to the devil. He walked around his sister's house that summer eating handfuls of raw hamburger -- a habit that led his sister to overlook the blood splatters in her kitchen after the slaying.

A few years earlier, he was hospitalized because he said he saw "blood in women inside of him," his attorney recalled. The hospital dismissed it as "too much caffeine."

Wells confessed to killing Barbara Sue and was charged with aggravated murder. He wasn't charged with rape; he told police he sexually assaulted her after she was dead.

But police offered Wells psychiatric help to extract the confession, his attorney, Jeff Moore, said last week. Judge William T. Gillie, who has since died, decided that was improper and threw out the confession.

Gillie convicted Wells of voluntary manslaughter based on a bite mark on Barbara Sue's left breast that matched Wells' teeth.

Involuntary manslaughter usually involves accidentally killing someone while committing another crime. Voluntary manslaughter generally is a crime of passion provoked by the victim.

Victim advocate Bret Vinocur discovered the loophole in the sexual-predator law in late June, when he phoned Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien to ask why Wells hadn't been designated a sexual predator.

State law requires sexual predators to register their addresses with the sheriff in the county where they live and prohibits them from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Some towns have added day-care centers, libraries, parks, swimming pools and playgrounds to the 1,000-foot rule.

A rape conviction is not required. Any felon whose crime was sexually motivated can be labeled a predator -- even if the crime predated the 1997 so-called Megan's Law, as long as the person is still in prison when the hearing is held.

And Wells was about to walk.

"At first, I thought it might have fallen through the cracks," said O'Brien, who wasn't county prosecutor when the case was tried. "Certainly, the facts of this case would indicate that it was motivated by sexual conduct."

O'Brien's research uncovered the loophole.

"I really was surprised," he said. "I told Bret I would work with him to get the law changed."

O'Brien and Vinocur will join Caulley and her family at a parole hearing Sept. 12 to fight Wells' release. The three want to keep Wells in prison long enough to get the law fixed and get Wells designated a predator.

Moore said his former client was a hermit who didn't go looking for girls.

"I believe a mental institution is a more appropriate setting for Robert than a prison," Moore said. "The evidence was clear that she stabbed him; he had wounds on his hands."

But S. Michael Miller, county prosecutor at the time, wants Wells to stay locked up. "Mr. Wells appears to be a very dangerous and disturbed person," Miller wrote the parole board. "I believe Mr. Wells is still a danger to the community."

Wells declined a request to be interviewed for this story.

Vinocur hopes that public outcry also will sway the parole board. He has set up an online petition on his Web site, www.findmissingkids.com, and is asking for signatures.

Meanwhile, he is working with O'Brien and state Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus, to close the loophole, using a pending victims' rights law.

"My little girl never got justice," Caulley said. "I still look at faces and think I'll see her. You wait for her to come in the door, and she doesn't come. You accidentally set the extra plate on the table.

"And now, I find out they can't even charge him with being a sexual predator."

Incomprehensible Tiff "Explained"

2007-08-20T04:39:00.001-07:00

Materazzi reveals slur to Zidane
Calgary Herald
August 19, 2007

Italy's World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi revealed Saturday he had told French icon Zinedine Zidane during last year's final that he preferred his "whore of a sister" to his shirt.

It was this comment that led to Zidane headbutting Materazzi in the chest and being dramatically sent off. That incident preceded France losing the final in a penalty shoot-out.

Materazzi made his revelations to an Italian magazine which is due to be published Monday.

The uncompromising Inter Milan central defender had previously made a different statement.

"I held his shirt for only a few seconds, he (Zidane) turned to me and spoke to me in a manic fashion, looked at me arrogantly from top to bottom and said, 'if you want my shirt you can have it after the match.'

"I responded with an insult, that is true," said Materazzi.

Arsonist Hated Loud People, Didn't See Downside

2007-08-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Woman torched neighbors' homes for loud music

YOUNGSTOWN - A woman who set her neighbors' homes on fire because she was upset with their behavior and loud music was sentenced to four years in prison.

Johanna Morrison, 50, has mental health problems and didn't understand the downside to what she was doing, said her attorney, James Gentile. Fire investigators said they think Morrison is responsible for as many as 13 fires in her neighborhood dating back to April 2006 until she was arrested last October.

No one was injured but some of the homes were damaged so severely that they had to be abandoned.

Morrison told Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge John Durkin during Friday's sentencing hearing that she's been taking the antidepressant drug Prozac while in jail and that her mental health has improved. She also apologized for setting fires.

Morrison pleaded guilty June 21 to four counts of aggravated arson and two counts of arson. A judge had found her competent to stand trial.

Gentile said his client's goal was to rid the neighborhood of non-law abiding persons.

Let Me Guess They Buy A Lot Of Cold Medicine Too!!!??

2007-08-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

South-central Connecticut sees largest increase in painkiller use

By Dave Collins, AP
August 20, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. --People in Connecticut are in pain, and nowhere else is that more apparent than in the south-central part of the state.
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The area saw a 657 percent increase in the use of oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, between 1997 and 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The national average increase was 591 percent, and the statewide average jump was 471 percent.

There was also a 243 percent increase in the use of morphine in south-central Connecticut during the same period, compared with a 154 percent increase nationally and 111 percent increase statewide.

No other areas of the state had higher increases in the use of oxycodone and morphine.

The figures are for the area with ZIP codes beginning with 064. The region runs from Middletown and Meriden to the north down to shoreline towns including Branford, Guilford and Old Saybrook. It also includes Fairfield and suburbs west of New Haven.

The data include nationwide sales and distribution of drugs by hospitals, retail pharmacies, doctors and teaching institutions.

Doctors and other medical experts say it's difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons why more painkillers are being used in the south-central part of the state, but they have some ideas that echo what their colleagues are saying about increases nationwide.

-- There's been a major shift in philosophy as doctors now consider pain management an integral part of the healing process.

-- Older people are making up an increasing percentage of the population, and their need for painkillers increases with age. There were 4.2 million Americans older than 85 in 2005, compared with 3.1 million in 1990.

-- Doctors are getting inundated with marketing materials from pharmaceutical companies.

"This whole idea of palliative medicine and pain and symptom management control has become a bigger way of treating certain types of diseases and pain suffering," said Marcel Blanchet, spokesman for The Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

The hospice serves just over 4,000 patients with terminal illnesses a year across the state, including 56 at its in-patient facility in Branford.

South-central Connecticut also has seen an increase in outpatient surgery centers and rehabilitation clinics in recent years, Blanchet said.

Yale-New Haven Hospital's new Shoreline Medical Center in Guilford offers one-day surgeries, cancer services and emergency care. Many Yale-New Haven doctors have offices in Guilford and Branford. And MidState Medical Center in Meriden has been advertising its Spine and Pain Institute.

Dr. Malcolm Gourlie, an East Haddam family practice doctor and president of the Middlesex County Medical Association, said there were few, if any, doctors in the county in 1997 who specialized in treating chronic pain. Now, he says, there are three or four spine specialists in the area, which makes up a good part of the 064 ZIP code region.

"We are now managing the problems that used to go outside the county," Gourlie said. "When I trained 25 years ago, there was no formal training in pain management. It was on the job. I think there's been more enlightenment. We're trying to recognize and manage chronic pain better."

Northeastern Connecticut was second in the state when it came to the increased use of oxycodone and morphine, but it was the leader in the spike in usage of hydrocodone, a generic form of Vicodin.

Hydrocodone use increased 183 percent from 1997 to 2005 in the region where ZIP codes begin with 062. The national average was 199 percent and the state average was 113 percent.

Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of the blood and cancer center at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, said it was difficult to explain why hydrocodone use increased more in the northeastern part of the state. But he said Vicodin is a popular painkiller to give to patients after surgery, and many doctors are familiar with it.

Gordon also said doctors in his area of the state have made a concerted effort to better manage patients' pain.

"Over the past 10 years, there has been much better education in the medical community to ... ask if people are having pain and to better diagnose and treat it," he said.

"My personal volume of prescriptions has gone up because we're seeing more patients every year," Gordon said. "I'm not concerned if over the past 10 years I've had to prescribe more pain medicines, because overall I feel I'm doing a better job."

Statewide, the use of five major painkillers -- oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone, codeine and meperidine -- increased 104 percent over the eight years, compared with 88 percent nationwide. The use of codeine and meperidine, used Demerol, both decreased in Connecticut and the nation.

They Were Watching Death Proof and Smoking Rock

2007-08-20T04:34:00.001-07:00

Woman takes man for ride -- on top of car
Jamal Thalji, Tampa Bay Times

NEW PORT RICHEY — Michelle Lorene Luther isn't sitting in the Pasco County jail today just because she took her boyfriend for a ride.

It's where he rode, police say.

On top of her car.

"The caller said they saw a man on the roof screaming for the driver to stop," said New Port Richey police Assistant Chief Darryl Garman.

That's why Luther, 40, of 5920 Delaware Ave., was arrested Friday night on charges of aggravated domestic battery, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

That's how the story ended. How it began, according to police, was when Luther pulled up to the home she shared with boyfriend Jamison Klod, 36.

It was 9:47 p.m. She had been drinking, police say. The two argued. They have their disagreements about what happened next, too.

The boyfriend said she ran him over, throwing him onto the roof of her convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder.

The girlfriend said she was trying to leave the driveway, according to Garman, but he was blocking her way when she hit him.

Another issue, police say, was that she never stopped.

The victim was literally sitting on top of the roof of her car, Garman said, holding on with both hands.
He punched in the driver's side window to try to get her to stop.

By the time police arrived, the couple and her car were back at the home. Luther had fled to a neighbor’s house. Klod was standing by her car, his hand bleeding, the roof caved in.

No other injuries were reported. The boyfriend refused medical help.

The girlfriend told police "she hit her boyfriend with her car because she was mad at him," according to an arrest report.

Luther did not go quietly. She was "screaming, crying, cursing," Garman said. The arresting officer wrote he could not understand what she was saying.

Police say they also found a glass pipe and a small piece of crack cocaine in her car, which was impounded.

She is being held in the county jail in Land O'Lakes in lieu of $6,250 bond.

Superman Comics "Accurate Account" of Crime, Punishment

2007-08-20T04:32:00.001-07:00

FBI: Bank robber no match for bodybuilder

By Susan Gilmore, Seattle Times

"Old School" was expelled Friday, thanks to a world-class body builder.

It all happened in Lynnwood when a robber, known to the FBI as the"Old School Bandit" because of a bandanna he always wore across his face — an old-school disguise — tried to rob a Banner Bank.

He was ambushed by a customer who just happens to be a top bodybuilder, Todd Jewell, 26, of Yakima.

"This guy [Old School] was elusive and I applaud him [Jewell]," FBI agent Larry Carr, who is based in Seattle. "This is one of those cases where every week since this guy started hitting I had to e-mail (warnings) to banks. Now I don't have to do this thanks to Mr. Jewell."

Carr said the Old School robber, identified as Chadwick Asheim of Seattle, is a suspect in nine bank robberies in the past two months, all in the Seattle area.

On Friday, he walked into a Banner Bank office on 188th Street Southwest in Lynnwood and told the teller, "Give me the money, give me the money, right now."

Jewell, who was in the bank with his wife, heard the threat and grabbed Asheim, pulling him away from the teller. "He was in quite the fight for his life," said Carr. "If caught inside the bank he'd go to jail for life. It was quite the struggle."

Jewell was able to subdue the man until police arrived, Carr said. Asheim was taken to the hospital for broken ribs and cuts and will be transferred to federal custody. Carr said charges likely will be filed on Monday.

Carr said a warrant was out for Asheim, who supposedly is homeless, for leaving a halfway house, and agents thought he might be responsible for the bank robberies, but they couldn't catch him.

Jewell, on his Web site, said he just completed his first national level bodybuilding competition and took 7th in the heavyweight class and was named Amateur of the Week on a bodybuilding Web site.

He said he's been bodybuilding for five years, and started lifting at age 14. He said he weighs 254 pounds

Do Not Shoot Yourself in the Head

2007-08-20T04:31:00.001-07:00

Drunken man 'playing' with gun kills self, police say

Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 18, 2007

An intoxicated man, playing with a gun, shot and killed himself Friday night, according to Phoenix Police.

Sergio Valencia-Maldonado, 35, died from his self-inflicted wounds at a Phoenix home in near the intersection of Thomas Road and 40th Street.

Valencia-Maldonado was "playing" with a revolver about 7:30 p.m. "in a reckless manner when he placed the weapon to his head and fired it, killing himself," according to initial police reports.

At least four other men were at the scene when the shooting happened.

"If he had had eyes, they would have been blue"

2007-08-20T04:29:00.001-07:00

Blind boy's blue eyes are a special gift
6-year-old Scott finds his place in world he can't see

By ANN WALLACE
Gannett Tennessee

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Scott Jernigan has blue eyes, but they are artificial.

Scott was born without eyeballs.

Because he does not have optic nerves, he probably will never gaze across the rolling hills of Tennessee.

As a single mother, Amber Jernigan has struggled to provide for Scott since he was born six years ago.

Money may have been tight, but there was lots of love to go around.

With the support of her mother, Annie Taylor, Amber has taken Scott on countless visits to Nashville doctors.

An organ transplant was impossible because of the lack of optic nerves, so doctors advised Amber that Scott should initially use conformers — curved pieces of plastic about the size of a pinky fingernail. Each has a small spoke used to position the conformer properly.

Amber took Scott to Fairbanks Ocular Prosthetics in Nashville to have his conformers sized every two months.

"It was an all-day thing. After they made the measurements, then they made the conformers by hand and later in the afternoon will fit them for him," Amber said.

Scott's pediatrician, Dr. Ferdinand Espeleta, said the conformers were essential for proper bone growth around the eyebrow and sinus area of the face.

The conformers allowed Scott's long lashes to frame a circular structure beneath his eyelids and avoid a caved-in appearance.

When Scott was 2, he received a very special gift — artificial eyeballs.

"If he had had eyes, they would have been blue," Amber said.

Single mom struggles

It has been a struggle for both mother and son.

At 2 years old, Scott didn't talk much.

He rolled and scooted across the floor much longer than routinely expected for a toddler.

By the time he was 4, he was developmentally behind his peers, but Amber and her mother continued to do the best they could.

Amber didn't have a job so that she could stay home to care for Scott, and Annie worked extra hours in an effort to make ends meet.

Eventually, Scott began to learn how to compensate for his disability — and he is still learning.

Off to school every day

He is learning to be a good student with the help of teachers at the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville.

"He is a big boy now, getting on the school bus, taking his backpack," Amber said.

This year, Scott wakes up and gets dressed by himself before his bus arrives.

A bus arrives about 6 a.m. to pick up Scott. That bus brings him home about 4 p.m.

When Scott arrives home, Amber will play a memory game with him based on notes from his teacher.

"We talk about what he ate for lunch, what he did at recess and something special he learned that day," Amber said.

Then Scott will help himself to an after-school snack from the refrigerator. A shelf houses his favorite food items, always placed in the same locations.

"Scott has learned so much since he started school. He can feed himself, and he has neighbor kids who are friends to him," Annie Taylor said.

Scott takes the wheel

Amber and Scott and little brother Isaiah moved into a new apartment this year.

While the family was getting settled, Annie said the neighbor kids invited Scott outside to the sidewalk.

"They were sweet to him. I turned around and back a bit later to see Scott on one of their motorized cars — and he was in the driver's seat," Annie said.

It was a moment of gut-wrenching fear that lodges in the throat of any parent.

"I mean after all, he is blind," Annie said.

As she neared the boys, she could hear neighborhood child telling Scott: "Turn left, good, turn right, good."

"Those kids knew Scott was different, and it didn't matter to them — they were having fun, but needless to say Scott doesn't drive anymore," Annie Taylor said with a grin.

Scott will continue his life skills classes at the School for the Blind, and Amber says once he masters the everyday tasks, he will study Braille and eventually learn to read.

Exciting Fight at Peace Festival

2007-08-20T04:28:00.001-07:00

Hip-hop fest fosters peace
But 'small contingent' causes fight, draws crowd after event

Patrick Flanigan, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

(August 20, 2007) — It was just a white bandanna, but it wasn't welcome at the Peacefest on Sunday.

"Hey man, you wanna do something with that?" Victor Saunders asked the young man who let the bandanna hang from his pocket.

Bandannas, after all, are sometimes used on Rochester streets to signal gang affiliation — exactly the kind of activity that the 6th Peacefest was trying to reverse.

"Ain't no reppin' here," said Saunders, the director of Pathways to Peace, the city agency that organized the Peacefest.

Dubbed a "celebration of love, peace and hip-hop," the festival featured about a dozen performers who helped promote the nonviolence in hip-hop culture. Pathways to Peace is the city's street-outreach agency, which helps give at-risk youths alternatives to dealing drugs and other criminal activity.

Rochester police had to break up a large fight among people leaving the festival site, said Lt. John Smith. He said a group of people fought at the intersection of Commercial and Mill streets and the scene attracted a crowd that had to be dispersed with pepper spray.

"The festival itself went extremely well," he said. "Unfortunately, there seemed to be a small contingent that showed up at the end for the sole purpose of being disruptive. You get about a dozen people fighting, with 600 to 800 people watching, and that creates a lot of negative energy."

Police took some people into custody, but arrest numbers were not available Sunday.

The festival included children's games and provided tables where representatives of community service agencies could deliver their message to the roughly 2,500 people who attended the gathering.

"We like to meet the kids where they feel comfortable and tell them what we're about," said James Cuthbert, an education specialist with the Center for Youth Services.

Cameron Thomas, 13, said the purpose of the festival is clear.

"Stop the killing," he said. "If you get all these people together, maybe some of them will figure out that when (you) kill someone, you're taking them away from their family and that ain't right."

The festival ended a three-day violence prevention community event, sponsored by the city.

Autistic Woman Beaten, Can't Cry

2007-08-20T04:26:00.000-07:00

LI cops: Wooden hanger, shoe used to beat autistic woman

Newsday, August 18, 2007

An autistic resident of a Long Island group home was beaten with a shoe and a wooden coat hanger, slapped in the head and kicked by several employees whose vicious assaults were captured by a hidden video camera, Nassau County police said.

The helpless 50-year-old victim was battered repeatedly at the PLUS Group Home Inc. by at least four employees after one of their co-workers alerted police to possible mistreatment of the residents inside the Uniondale facility, police said.

Group home management then installed the camera inside air conditioning vents at the home, according to Terri Cancilla, executive director of the PLUS Group Home Inc.

The camera quickly captured a series of assaults between Aug. 9-16, police said. PLUS workers Nelly Gedeon, 20, of Uniondale, and Johny Djhon-Felix, 33, of Queens, were arrested Friday and charged with harassment and endangering an incompetent person.

Djohn-Felix was additionally charged with grand larceny for disconnecting and stealing the hidden camera after noticing its presence during his shift early Thursday morning, police said. Two other PLUS employees were wanted for beating the unidentified woman.

Gedeon and Djhon-Felix were being arraigned Saturday in Hempstead, police said. Police couldn't say whether they had lawyers, and their home telephone numbers werent' listed.

Offices at Long Island-based PLUS, which provides housing and care for autistic adults, were closed Saturday. An e-mail seeking comment on the arrests was not returned.

According to police, there were four separate assaults.

In the first incident, one of the suspects still at large was captured striking the victim in the head with her hand several times on Aug. 9. Three days later, the second wanted suspect kicked the woman in her buttocks, smashed her in the head with a wooden coat hanger and then threw the hanger at the woman's head.

That same day, health care aide Gedeon used a shoe to batter the victim, hitting her in the head. Djhon-Felix, another aide, used a handful of the woman's hair to shake her back and forth during the last incident Thursday.

Authorities said the victim can not speak or convey emotions or pain because of her disease, which is characterized by impaired social interaction.

Two Men Charged for Foolish Snake Box Idea

2007-08-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

Men accused of murder-by-snake plot

August 18, 2007

LAKEWOOD, Colo. --Two men who allegedly tried to use rattlesnakes as deadly weapons to collect on a debt have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, authorities said.

The Lakewood men were allegedly trying to kill Matthew Sowash, owner of Amateur Poker Tour in Wheat Ridge, because he owed them $60,000, Jim Shires of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office said. Arrest affidavits say Sowash's company stages Texas Hold'em-style poker games in Denver area bars.

Herbert Paul Beck, 56, was arrested Thursday in Raton, N.M., and Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, was arrested Wednesday in Lakewood.

Bail for each suspect was set at $500,000 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion.

Investigators said Steelman told them the two men discussed ways to kill Sowash and Beck suggested rattlesnakes. Beck allegedly told investigators he invested $36,000 in the company last December, and with interest was due $60,000.

The plan was to build a wooden box to hold the snakes and "the lid was to be built to allow Sowash's legs to be put inside but not pulled out."

"The final and most disturbing method to Steelman was Beck wanting to kidnap Sowash's children and use them as leverage to get the money from Sowash," according to the affidavits.

Sowash contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation after getting threatening e-mails.

Both defendants have extensive arrest records. Shires didn't know if they had lawyers to speak for them

Stubborn Old Man Likes Trash

2007-08-20T04:22:00.000-07:00

Trashed houses land man in jail
City loses patience over building code violations
Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati building inspectors say they tried to reason with Ron Brown.

They visited the 70-year-old Westwood man dozens of times over the years and asked him to clean up the trash, car parts, weeds and rusting lawn mowers that littered his McHenry Avenue properties.

They offered to help haul the junk away, they wrote more than 50 citations warning him to clear his property and, finally, they took him to court.

Nothing worked.

So when Brown went back to Hamilton County's housing court Friday, the judge decided to try something new: He sent Brown to jail.

"It's an absolute last resort," said Judge Russell Mock. "But eventually, there has to be a deterrent."

Brown's 170-day jail sentence - a rarity in housing court - is the latest chapter in a long, strange fight between the city and one of the most prolific building code violators in town.

Neighbors have complained about Brown's properties for nearly a decade and city records show citations for litter, debris, abandoned vehicles and other violations dating back to at least 2002.

"It was beyond normal stuff. It was almost like an open junkyard," said Randy Hammann, a member of the Westwood Concern neighborhood group. "It's not something most normal neighbors would look out their kitchen windows and see."

Building inspectors say Brown allowed the junk to accumulate on four of his properties: 3031, 3035 and 3041 McHenry Ave. and 2195 Harrison Ave.

Despite many warnings, city officials say, Brown refused to clean up. He often argued with city officials about the citations and was accused two months ago of threatening an inspector on his property with a metal pipe.

"This gentleman has had ample opportunity to clean his act up," said William Langevin, director of the city Department of Buildings and Inspections. "We've all lost our patience." He said no one wanted to see a 70-year-old man go to jail, but frustration with Brown's inaction had reached a boiling point.

Mock said he repeatedly warned Brown jail was a possibility. The judge even sent Brown to jail for 10 days earlier this year and told him he could avoid serving the full 180-day sentence if he made an effort to improve his properties.

He said some property owners in housing court don't have the money or physical ability to comply with the city's orders, but that's not the case with Brown. "I gave him another chance and he just refused to do it," Mock said. "He chooses not to do it."

Brown's lawyer declined to comment Friday.

Frustrated neighbors have demanded for years that the city do something about Brown's properties.

"This is the stuff we need to crack down on, the basic quality-of-life things," said Mary Kuhl, a member of Westwood Concern who lives near Brown's Harrison Avenue property.

"You can cite everybody until the cows come home; but if you never follow up, then you get what you got with Ron Brown."

Langevin said the city did as much as it could, but uncertainty about ownership of the properties held up enforcement for several years.

He said many of the properties remain in the name of Brown's deceased mother and, until a recent court hearing, Brown denied responsibility for maintaining them.

Once he accepted responsibility, Langevin said, the city could take action.

The city has since demolished the house at 3041 McHenry and has gone to court to do the same to the house at 3031 McHenry. Brown lives at 3035 McHenry.

Mock could let Brown out of jail before the end of his 170-day sentence, but that's likely to happen only if he promises to clean up his property.

Langevin said he hopes Brown gets out soon and starts following the rules.

But he's not convinced even a stint in jail will do the trick.

"Mr. Brown," he said, "is a very stubborn individual."

Just Called To Say "I Love You"

2007-08-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

Rapist gets 18 1/2 years
Cincinnati Enquirer

A 22-year-old Forest Park man is being sent to prison for 18½ years for beating, cutting and raping his girlfriend, then calling her 350 times from jail to discourage her from testifying, authorities said.

Darryn Pringle got the sentence Friday.

A jury convicted him in May of rape, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of domestic violence and a count of violating a protection order.

The charges stem from January attacks on his girlfriend, who is the mother of his 1-year-old son. The incidents occurred in Hamilton.

Axe Attack Ruins Life

2007-08-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

Three youths found guilty in axe attack
Chantal Eustace, CanWest News Service
August 18, 2007

Michael Levy, the Surrey teenager who was attacked with an axe last year, stared ahead from his wheelchair as three of the four young men charged with assaulting him were found guilty yesterday.

Levy was at a party at Surrey's Tynehead Hall on Oct. 28, 2006, when he was attacked -- punched and pepper sprayed -- then hit in the back of the head three times with an axe.

The near-deadly attack severed Levy's spinal cord and left him a quadriplegic.

The six-foot-one teenager -- who had planned to join the army -- didn't smile, even as his friends and family let out hushed cheers and bursts of applause.

But outside Surrey provincial court, Levy told reporters he was pleased the three teenagers were found guilty of the assault charges, which included aggravated assault with a weapon.

"I would like to see them go away for life," said Levy, 19, adding he wants his attackers punished as adults, not as youths.

"But that's probably not going to happen. With our justice system, they'll probably get a week."

He'd also like to see them do some volunteer work with quadriplegic people, he said, so they understand what they did to him.

Levy's mother, Deborah, said the guilty verdicts were good news.

"I'm ecstatic that the truth came out," she said. "It was a very traumatic, horrific thing that happened, but we have served some justice."

She said the trial, which began in April and adjourned several times because of scheduling, has been difficult on her entire family. She said she and her son cried and had a "meltdown" earlier that day.

"It's not closure," she said of yesterday's verdicts. "It's just the next step."

Levy's supporters couldn't suppress their emotions when Judge Kenneth Ball read out the three guilty verdicts shortly after 2:30 p.m. Some shed tears while others whispered "yes."

A fourth teenager was acquitted. Ball cited a lack of evidence tying him to the crime. None of the four teenagers can be named because their identities are shielded by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Levy's sister Crystal said she would like to see the young men tried as adults.

"I hope they ask for adult sentencing and adult time," she said. "This is not a youth crime."

Before the sentencing -- set for Sept. 10 at 9:30 a.m. -- the family plans to take a vacation and unwind.

Baby Total Lush

2007-08-20T04:19:00.001-07:00

Man charged with giving beer to baby
THE ENQUIRER

A Walnut Hills man is charged with child endangering after a witness noticed him giving beer to a baby, according to Cincinnati police.

Anthony Chambers, 43, of Walnut Hills, was arrested Friday after a woman told police she saw him giving beer to the infant.

The woman followed him and called police.

Chambers also is charged with assault for allegedly attacking the woman after she called police.

Boy Was Collateral in Meth Deal

2007-08-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

South Bay couple charged in torture of 22-month-old
Bruises cover boy's entire body; DA calls abuse 'one of the most extreme cases we've seen'
Linda Goldston, Contra Costa Times

After a stormy two-month relationship, a South Bay couple was arraigned Friday on charges of abusing and torturing the woman's 22-month-old son so severely that he had injuries from his head to his toes and will need several kinds of medical treatment indefinitely.

Julia Acosta, 20, of San Jose and Baltazar Martinez, 26, of Milpitas, face life sentences if convicted of the charges. Martinez faces an additional charge of felony domestic abuse.

"We believe this is one of the most extreme cases we've seen in Santa Clara County," said Dan Nishigaya, Santa Clara County supervising deputy district attorney, family violence division. "We have accused both of them for being responsible for the injuries to the child."

Nishigaya said the torture charge was included because of the severity of the injuries, which include bruises of varying colors -- yellow, black, blue, purple and red -- over the boy's entire body, and major trauma to the boy's genitals, according to police reports.

The toddler's head and eyebrows had been shaved, his eyelashes cut and there were two burns, possibly caused by a meth pipe, on the boys' left arm and back, the reports said.

In statements to police, Acosta and Martinez deny hurting the child but accuse each other of doing it. At one point, police said, Acosta said the boy had been taken by a drug dealer "as collateral" for a drug debt she and Martinez owed. At another time, she said the countless bruises on her son's body were caused by a "3-year-old known as Gordo who played rough."

The couple had known each other for about seven months and had dated for about two months, living in various motels in San Jose and Milpitas, they told police.

Martinez is not the boy's father. According to police reports on the case, Jon Holmberg "is reportedly the father" of the victim. He is currently in custody at Elmwood for unrelated offenses.

Authorities learned about the boy's injuries on Aug. 7, after Acosta and her mother, Melisa McElvain, took him to Valley Medical Center. Earlier that day, McElvain received a call from her niece about bruising on her grandchild. The niece was with Acosta at a house in Campbell.

McElvain told police that her daughter "was irate," and would not let her mother touch or see the boy. McElvain said the boy was covered with a blanket, but she could still see bruises on the boy's face and burns on his arm.

After driving to the hospital with her mother and baby, Acosta disappeared from the emergency room, saying she needed to go get something. McElvain saw her driving away with Martinez in his white Ford pickup, according to police reports.

That didn't stop doctors from continuing their examination of Acosta's son. The boy was in such bad shape that one of the doctors didn't want police to see him that day "due to his emotional outbursts and visible fear when in the presence of strangers," according to a police report.

On Aug. 13, investigators received a tip that Acosta was at a house in Campbell and immediately went there. Acosta agreed to accompany them to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said Acosta told officers she had tried to get away from Martinez the day before, but he "forced her back into his truck and slammed the truck door on her."

She also said that any time she tried to defend the boy by standing in front of him, even picking her child up, "she would be punched in the head and knocked out," one police report states. She described Martinez "as a monster."

After initially denying that Martinez had hurt her child, Acosta said, "Martinez first started hitting" him about 11/2 months before "and the hitting got bad about three weeks ago." She said it got worse because Martinez was smoking more methamphetamine.

Mutilated Tortoise Is Friend to Boy

2007-08-20T04:17:00.001-07:00

Tortured tortoise leaves rehab, returns to family
Bob, a 42-pound pet, was slashed and mutilated after being stolen
AP, 08/18/2007

VENTURA -- Bob, a 42-pound pet tortoise who was slashed and mutilated after being stolen from a family's yard, has returned home following more than a month in a rehabilitation center.

Bob heartily ate his first meal of hibiscus flowers and roses after having a feeding tube pulled out of his neck, owner Dorothy Sullivan said Friday.

"He's eating like a pig," she said. "He's doing great and we're pretty excited."

The 25-year-old African spurred tortoise was snatched from Sullivan's yard on July 7. Police following an anonymous tip found Bob behind an apartment complex several days later.

Bob's hind legs were badly cut, a toe was cut off, his neck was slashed and his shell was punctured with a sharp object. The attacker tried to cut the animal out of his shell and threw him against a wall, police said.

Jose "Tony" Mosqueda, 18, of Ventura, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty. He pleaded not guilty and faces three years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

Sullivan said Bob is a friend to her 6-year-old autistic son, William, who rarely spoke to people but chattered to the animal. She said the boy was withdrawn while Bob was staying at Turtle Dreams, a Montecito rehab center, but he has started talking again since Bob came back.

"It's made a good impact on our son. He's sleeping through the night and he's opening up," Sullivan said.

Sullivan and her husband have built a temporary enclosure with a screen to give Bob room to exercise and keep flies away from his scars. The animal will undergo more surgery to repair deep slash wounds under his neck and legs.

"He's still got a long road to recovery," she said.

Bob's plight made headlines across the country and prompted a flood of calls from people wanting to help. A benefit concert was planned Sunday at a Ventura night club to raise money to help pay the animal's veterinary bills.

Football Players Cruel, Playful

2007-08-20T04:15:00.000-07:00

Teens admit killing baby skunks with paintball gun
Lauren Pack, Middletown Journal

LEBANON, Ohio - Three southern Ohio football players admitted this week to killing two baby skunks with a paintball gun and chasing and shooting at the mother and a third baby skunk at a Hueston Woods State Park campground.

The 17-year-old Franklin High School athletes, wearing ties and flanked by their parents, appeared before Warren County Juvenile Court Judge Mike Powell.

The boys each quietly answered "I admit" to the charges of juvenile delinquency by way of cruelty to animals, improper methods of taking game birds and wild quadrupeds and disorderly conduct.

The students - all seniors - will be sentenced for the misdemeanor charges Sept. 12 following a pre-sentence investigation.

The judge could impose a sentence of as many as 90 days in the juvenile detention center, house arrest, a fine, community service and probation.

According to park officers, campers at Hueston Woods saw the youths chasing skunks with paintball guns. The teens then reportedly chased the remaining baby skunk and its mother into a drainage pipe under a park road.

Charges were filed in Preble County Juvenile Court, but were transferred to Warren County, where the juveniles reside, for adjudication.

Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Kimberly Kutschbach requested the boys have no contact with each other until after the pre-sentence investigation is completed.

The teens' attorney, Joe Kirby, objected, noting they are teammates and go to school together.

"They are good kids who did something that is just wrong and stupid," Kirby said, noting many school officials were in the court-

room ready to attest to the defendants' character. Kirby said a no-contact order would not be in the boys' best interest.

Powell relented and permitted the boys to see each other at school and in extracurricular activities, but not to socialize until after the pre-sentence investigation is completed.

Old Woman Forgotten in Vault

2007-08-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

Calif. woman locked in bank 6 hours
August 18, 2007

LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. --A 73-year-old woman became trapped in a bank when employees accidentally locked her in the building while she was looking over the contents of a safe deposit box.

Marian Prescher, who has diabetes, apparently passed out during the ordeal because she had not taken her medication with her. A cleaning person discovered her six hours later.

Prescher visited the Bank of America branch Wednesday and was given use of a privacy room to examine her valuables. Employees left her in the room when they closed the bank at about 6 p.m.

"They forgot she was there," sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Shortly after midnight, deputies received a call from a cleaning person who discovered the woman. Prescher was unconscious and cold to the touch when authorities arrived.

"She may have died," Amormino said. "It just seems to be a terrible oversight."

Bank of America said it was investigating.

Prescher said she knew nothing about what happened until she awoke at the hospital where she was treated and released.

"I just couldn't believe it, that they would leave me in there," she said.

Crazy Cat Lady Crazy

2007-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Animal hoarder to get psychiatric evaluation
Aug 16, 2007
Matthew Santoni, The Examiner

Harford County - Donna Bell couldn’t turn away desperate animals.

So she took them in and kept taking them in, until she had more than 100 cats and dogs sick and dying in her two adjacent Harford County homes.

A judge on Thursday found Bell, a 60-year-old former operator of an animal rescue organization, not criminally responsible because she has obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“There was a disconnect between her good intentions and her ability to say no,” said Leonard Shapiro, Bell’s attorney. “She was afraid that if she didn’t take the animals in, they would die. ... Unfortunately, that’s what happened in the end.”

Bell had been charged with animal cruelty in May 2006 after police responding to complaints of a strong odor emanating from the two houses found 70 dogs, four cats and 44 carcasses, caged and uncaged. Piles of animal waste stood nearly 3 feet deep in places.

District Judge John Dunnigan committed Bell to the care of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and ordered that she be taken to Spring Grove Hospital in Catonsville. There, she will stay for at least the next several weeks to undergo further evaluation until the state determines what kind of treatment she needs for OCD, which can manifest itself in hoarding.

“You will be in the hands of the doctors there,” Dunnigan told Bell. “Be sure that you follow everything that they recommend. ... I don’t know what to say, other than what I read was horrific, to say the least.”

Beyond replying, “yes,” Bell did not speak.

Bell’s attorney, Leonard Shapiro, said the case exemplified someone not responsible for crimes because of mental illness.

The plea angered many the Bel Air courtroom. Some shot Bell dirty looks, cursing under their breath and berating Shapiro as he left the court. But others said Bell had suffered already in realizing the harm she had done to the animals she most wanted to save.

“What she did was horrible, but I don’t think she had a choice,” said Dianne Nowicki, who worked with Bell to adopt animals through PetSmart. “I have a lot of warm fuzzies for Donna because she was doing a lot of good in that area before.”

But Debbie Pineda, a former volunteer at the Humane Society of Harford County, called for a stiffer penalty. “I’m pleased that Donna is getting the help she needs, but I believed there should have been some other punishment,” she said.

Zombies Are Real

2007-08-17T09:52:00.001-07:00

Brecksville man, 19, acting strangely, dies after breaking into condo
Brie Zeltner, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Broadview Heights -- A 19-year-old Brecksville man died early Thursday morning after breaking into an elderly couple's condominium, removing his clothes and asking to take a shower, police said.

This is how the incident unfolded, according to Broadview Heights police:

Neighbors heard William Martin yelling "help me" about 2 a.m. outside the patio door of an apartment in the 1000 block of Tollis Parkway. He was wearing only a pair of pants. He then scaled a wooden fence separating the apartments from condominiums on Scenicview Drive.

Martin ran through a bedroom window and into a condominium where a couple in their 80's were sleeping in an adjacent bedroom. Martin took off his pants and underwear, said he needed to take a shower, and assaulted both of them. He tried to run out through another bedroom window, which he cracked, and then left the way he came in.

A witness said Martin scaled the same fence but it broke and he fell onto the pavement. He then took a piece of the broken wood and used it to stab and hit himself.

Police arrived and Martin assaulted one of them, biting his finger. Other officers subdued Martin, and then he went limp and stopped breathing.

Martin was transported to Parma Community General Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m., Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller said. His death is under investigation, and Miller said there was no visually obvious cause of death in the autopsy, which was done Thursday.

Monster Dog "Face" Kills Boy

2007-08-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Family pit bull kills Minneapolis boy
7-year-old's father shoots pet after trying to stop attack in their basement
Frederick Melo and Mara Gottfried, Twin Cities Pioneer Press
08/16/2007

The pit bull that killed 7-year-old Zachary King Jr. on Thursday afternoon was a "huge, full-grown monster" with no love for people, according to a relative.

Bert Robinson, the boy's cousin, said he could see meanness in the dog. It was kept tied up in the basement of the King family's North Minneapolis home.

Its name was Face, and with its partner, Ginger, the dog had produced at least two litters, which the Kings gave away as gifts to friends and family.

"Ginger could socialize," Robinson said. "You couldn't pet that other one."

Zachary was mauled to death in his basement. His father, Zachary King Sr., was bitten on the arm while trying to protect the child, police said. The elder King then shot and killed the dog.

Authorities called the incident the first fatal dog attack in the metro area in at least 17 years.

The boy was pronounced dead at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. His father was treated at the hospital and released.

Face was tied to a post in a basement at 3530 Humboldt Ave. N. when the dog attacked the boy shortly after 1 p.m., said Minneapolis police Lt. Amelia Huffman. Zachary had severe bites to his throat, she said.

The dog had bitten people twice in the past, said Minneapolis spokesman Matt Laible.

Police haven't determined what caused Thursday's attack.

"Any consideration of charges at this point is premature," Huffman said. "Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened."

Animal control officers removed Ginger, the female pit bull, and five puppies from the home afterward, Laible said.

Neighbors and other family members expressed shock and sadness as they remembered Zachary. The only boy among four children, he was a proud older sibling to his 3-year-old sister, Deanne Zenae King.

"He finally got to be a big brother," said Robinson, 35.

Tameara Freeman, 11, and her sister, Teea Freeman, 8, recalled petting the adult dogs during a recent birthday party at the King home. Face was kept in the basement; Ginger roamed free.

"I used to go down there. The dogs were nice," Tameara said. "They didn't look mean at all."

But Zachary's grandfather, Robert L. King Jr., said he remembers Face as being unapproachable.

"I can't stand pit bulls. I told my son that. But there's pit bulls in every other house up and down this street," Robert King said. "This generation - strong dogs, strong this, strong that, bigger cars."

Michael Bownik, who lives nearby, has testified against neighbors who have kept vicious dogs in their homes. He has seen friends holed up indoors or stuck inside cars for hours when angry dogs were loose.

Pit bulls, seen as a symbol of status in some inner-city neighborhoods,
are seemingly everywhere, he said.

"Pit bulls are a big problem in the neighborhood," said Bownik, 48.

Beth DeLaForest, a director with A Rotta Love Plus, a Minnesota rescue group for pit bulls and Rottweilers, said that although her heart goes out to the King family, she believes there were warning signs.

"The combination of factors here was a big accident waiting to happen, regardless if you have pit bulls or Labrador retrievers," said DeLaForest, who owns two pit bulls.

All un-neutered dogs are more likely to attack than dogs that have had the surgery, DeLaForest said.

The fact that the dog was tied up in the basement was also a red flag, she said.

"Statistics also show that when your dog is tethered, there is a higher bite or attack incidence," she said.

Barbara Johnson, the Minneapolis City Council member who represents Ward 4 where the incident took place, expressed shock Thursday.

"I just am astounded at the number of people that put their children in jeopardy by taking risks like this," Johnson said. "I truly do believe there are a lot of people breeding these animals to fight them, irresponsible owners, and we as a city have to do something about it ... it's just such an absolutely needless tragedy."

In 2005, Face bit a trespasser on the family's property. Because of the circumstances it was considered a "provoked bite" and didn't lead to action from the city, Laible said.

In 2006, Face bit a man, Laible said. That bite was considered minor.

A rabies test will be conducted on the dog's remains, Laible said.

Several dog attacks have been reported in the Twin Cities area in recent years, but aside from a fatal attack in Elroy, Wis., in 2002, when six Rottweilers killed a 10-year-old girl, none appears to have been deadly.

In St. Paul, reports of dog bites have dropped.

Since 1966, the lowest numbers of dog bites were in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The peak was 1,346 in 1971. The lowest annual total was 156 in 2004.

As of May, there had been 37 reported dog bites in St. Paul, of which 15 involved pit bulls.

In June, Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, said he would push legislation next year to make it illegal to own breeds of dogs he deems a threat to public safety.

Nagging Girlfriend Set On Fire; Cooking Didn't Save Her

2007-08-17T08:29:00.001-07:00

Boyfriend admits lighting fire
Man says he also put out the blaze in fatal arson
Derrick Nunnally, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Aug. 16, 2007

The boyfriend Deshon Tucker treated "like a king" burned her to death Saturday, according to criminal charges filed by Milwaukee prosecutors Thursday.

Martin Ray Fitzgerald initially denied he set the fire that killed Tucker, 40, in her N. 60th St. apartment and injured Tucker's niece, claiming instead that Tucker set herself on fire before he ran away and didn't call the fire department, the criminal complaint says.

Eventually, Fitzgerald, 43, owned up to lighting a fire and other crimes: bank robberies in June and July using a fake bomb, a Walgreens stick-up in July when he dressed as a woman "to try to throw the police off of his normal bank robbery routine," and finally, a bank robbery with a $110 pistol the day after Tucker died, the court records state.

Altogether, Fitzgerald faces seven felony counts: first-degree intentional homicide of Tucker, first-degree reckless injury of Tucker's niece, arson of their apartment building and four counts of armed robbery. Combined, the charges carry a maximum possible prison sentence of life plus 125 years if Fitzgerald is convicted.

The criminal complaint says Tucker was found dead near the sink of her apartment, while her niece, who jumped out a window, survived but has burns to 40% of her skin.

From her hospital bed, the niece, 24, gave detectives a narrative of Tucker's grisly death, which the criminal complaint details:

The niece, who lived in the same apartment as Tucker and Fitzgerald, had been wakened by a loud argument, which she tried to break up. After Tucker threatened to call the police, Fitzgerald responded "I'll burn this whole (expletive) house down." He produced a gas can and sprayed them with liquid, then lighted a newspaper on the gas stove and hurled the newspaper at them.

Fitzgerald told police Tucker had accused him of "messing around with a 21-year-old woman," though he said she was "a good cook" who treated him "like a king," the complaint says. In a second interview, he said he did light a fire, which he claimed he also put it out, it says.

Probably Better This Way

2007-08-17T08:12:00.001-07:00

You always remember your first time
Reuters
August 17, 2007 at 8:26 AM EDT

BERLIN — A teenage couple having sex for the first time were interrupted when candles set fire to the girl's attic bedroom and forced them to flee naked from her parents' house, German daily Bild reported on Friday.

The girl had wanted to create a romantic atmosphere for the occasion. But when the room suddenly became engulfed with flames, they had to make a hasty escape.

The couple, both 18, were pictured naked in the paper among the burned wreckage of the attic. A charred teddy had survived but the fire wrecked the entire top floor of the house causing around 100,000 euros ($134,800 U.S.) worth of damage.

Crack-Trading Granny Kept Inmates Honest

2007-08-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Tight-lipped 'Granny' dies in prison
Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
CLAYTON - Thirteen years after Alva Mae "Granny" Groves was locked up for conspiring to trade crack cocaine for food stamps, she's finally home.

It took death to free her. Federal prosecutors wanted the ailing great-grandmother behind bars for at least another decade as punishment for her role in the family scheme.

Groves will be buried today among generations of kin in Johnston County. She died last week at a federal prison hospital in Texas after being refused the privilege of dying at home under the watch of her children. She was 86.

"It's a relief she's dead, but it's a hurt, a real hurt we weren't with her," said daughter Everline Johnson of Red Springs. "What could she have hurt?"

Prison officials wouldn't comment on Groves' case, citing privacy concerns. In a brief letter that was mailed to Groves on her death bed, prison officials advised her that her crime was too grave to allow her to be turned loose.

Groves was tending her garden the day investigators stormed her double-wide mobile home and hauled her to jail. Within a year, she was sentenced to federal prison for 24 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to sell and distribute cocaine and aiding and abetting the trading of crack cocaine for food stamps. She was 74.

'My real crime'

Groves' family says prosecutors came down hard on her mostly because she wouldn't help investigators build a case that could have locked up her children for life.

"My real crime ... was refusing to testify against my sons, children of my womb, that were conceived, birthed and raised with love," Groves wrote in a 2001 letter to November Coalition, a non-profit organization rallying support to free her and others sentenced to prison for long stretches on drug offenses.

Groves, who was caught up in the nation's aggressive war on crack cocaine in the 1980s and '90s, became the face of a movement to lighten prison sentences for non-violent crack dealers.

As the drug hit urban streets in the mid-1980s, Congress enacted tough penalties for dealers. Long mandatory minimum sentences are still in effect, although several bills pending in Congress could lighten those prison terms.

It isn't clear how much Groves knew about the crack cocaine being traded in her home. Her daughters swear she had no part in the scheme but didn't force her kin to do business elsewhere.

'She was a player'

Buddy Berube, the lead investigator for the Johnston County Sheriff's Office, insists Groves took part in the trade.

"She was a player, for sure," Berube said. "Not as big as her son, but when he wasn't around, she would take care of things."

All told, five family members were sent to federal prison. Her son, Ricky Groves is pulling a life sentence in Butner.

Three generations of Groves women landed at Tallahassee (Fla.) Federal Women's Prison in 1996. Groves' oldest daughter, Margaret Woodard, and Woodard's daughter, Pam Battle, also were convicted after the bust.

Groves was a sight in prison, said Garry Jones, a retired correctional officer who knew her in Tallahassee. The oldest inmate by at least a decade, Groves would sit beneath a tree in the prison yard, issuing stern warnings to younger inmates who flirted with correctional officers and wore tight pants.

She once came down on Jones, then a lieutenant at the prison.

"She told me that she'd spank me herself if I didn't do anything about these 'fast-tailed girls' having sex with the officers," Jones said. "She told me, 'I'm too old to be listening to all this moaning and groaning. You better straighten this out.'"

Eventually, the officers were caught and fired, Jones said.

Fellow inmates protected her, Jones said. They nicknamed her "Granny" and took turns pushing her wheelchair to pick up her daily regimen of pills. They made sure she had the lightest duties in the cafeteria -- rolling silverware and filling salt shakers, said Dorothy Gaines, a fellow inmate who was freed in 2000 after a pardon by former President Bill Clinton. Gaines also did time for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Prison life took a toll on Groves. She despised the food, a poor substitute for the butter beans and peas she grew in her garden.

"She shrunk down to a bag of bones," daughter Louise Smith of Clayton said.

Her family tried to fatten her up during their pilgrimages to Tallahassee. Two or three times a year, dozens of relatives would pile in vans and cars and visit Groves in prison. Her daughters stashed country ham and biscuits in their bras to sneak them past prison officers.

'I want to die at home'

Groves never imagined she'd die in prison, even though her sentence stretched long past normal life expectancy. She talked of planting a new garden, buying a red Corvette and meeting great-grandchildren who were born while she was locked up.

Groves took a turn for the worse early this year. Her kidneys started to fail after a long battle with diabetes. Prison officials sent her to a federal prison hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, where she stayed until her death.

She wrote November Coalition about her fears of dying in prison: "I realize everyone has a day to die; death is a fate that will not be cheated. But I don't want to die in prison. I want to die at home surrounded by the love of what's left of my family."

Permission denied

Last winter, Groves' family asked again that their mother be freed to die at home. They wrote to the president, to congressmen, to every prison official they encountered. National organizations like November Coalition urged Groves' release, too. Jones, the former prison guard, even lent his support.

In May, a probation officer flew to North Carolina to inspect a bedroom Everline Johnson had prepared for her mother. Groves, hopeful, started to pack her scant items in a suitcase.

Permission didn't come. On July 19, as Johnson and her sister Debra Pettiway leaned over Groves' hospital bed and tried to remind her who they were, a prison official handed Johnson the letter denying her release.

She's grateful Groves never saw it.

Homeless Man Not On Message

2007-08-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Police accuse homeless man of parkway vandalism
Aug 17, 2007 3:00 AM
Scott McCabe, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - U.S. Park Police arrested a homeless man they say is responsible for writing hate-filled and pornographic messages along the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Arlington County Police picked up 47-year-old Ronald Bost on Thursday on a warrant for destruction of property and turned Bost over to U.S. Park Police, who recently released information about Bost being a prime suspect in at least 14 vandalism cases.

The crudely scrawled messages are drawn in a black-ink marker, usually on trash cans along the bike trail of the George Washington Parkway. One message says “Heil Hitler!” Another calls President Bush a criminal, and another contains a swastika. Sometimes the vandal posts pornographic clippings, Sgt. Robert LaChance said.

Bost has been arrested six times by U.S. Park Police in connection with similar crimes since 1997.

Child "Bad," Punished

2007-08-17T07:22:00.001-07:00

'Every bone in his body' visible
Pair to stand trial in 7-year-old boy's starvation death
Sue Lindsay And Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
August 17, 2007

Seven-year-old Chandler Grafner was so emaciated when he died in May he looked like a "concentration camp prisoner," a Denver detective testified Thursday.

"He was so thin, you could see every bone in his body," said Detective Larry Moore II. "His eyes and cheeks were sunken. His hair was falling out."

Moore testified at a preliminary hearing in Denver County Court in which Jon Phillips, 26, and Sarah Berry, 21, were bound over to stand trial on charges of murder and child abuse for starving the boy, who died May 6.

Chandler's 5-year-old half- brother, who is Phillips' biological son, told police that "his brother was an angel and he was in heaven," Moore said.

The younger boy told police that when Chandler "was bad," he was kept in a closet, where he was forced to eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. The boy also said in an affidavit that Chandler would beg for food but was denied it.

Moore said Chandler was kept in a small linen closet, which smelled like urine and had feces smeared on the walls.

Police found a piece of urine- soaked carpet that apparently had been cut from the closet floor and dumped in the trash, Moore said.

Photographs of the emaciated child and the testimony of his 5-year-old half-brother were among the compelling pieces of evidence indicating probable cause of first-degree murder, Judge Andrew Armatas said.

Armatas said years ago he might have doubted a 5-year- old's credibility, "but when I see 3-year-olds using computers today," it's safe to conclude they're bright enough to be witnesses.

Phillips and Berry told authorities that Chandler had become ill a week and a half before he died, but doctors said he died a long, slow death of starvation and dehydration.

Chandler weighed 34 pounds when he died. The normal weight for a boy his age is 50 pounds.

Chandler was withdrawn from school for home schooling a month before he died and no one had seen him outside the apartment since Easter, Moore said.

Defense attorneys contended that both boys were thin and small for their age. They tried to show that Chandler's debilitated state could have been due to any number of factors, among them his premature birth and the fact that his biological mother used drugs and methamphetamine.

Phillips got custody of both boys in January.

Defense attorneys noted that Berry, who is Phillips' common-law wife, was an inexperienced parent.

But prosecutor Verna Carpenter said that "no matter how young, how naive you are," a person knows a child needs to be fed and not to lock a child in a closet.

Shaken Baby 10 Years Old, Cannot Eat

2007-08-17T07:21:00.002-07:00

Abused child gets new chance in court
Adoptive parents allowed to sue Rochester hospital again for malpractice
Shannon Prather, Twin Cities Pioneer Press
08/16/2007

Nykkole Rossini was 22 days old when she turned up in a hospital emergency room with a broken arm. Doctors suspected child abuse but sent Nykkole home after questioning her parents. Although state law requires hospitals to report suspected abuse, no one did.

Less than a month later, Nykkole suffered injuries at the hands of her biological father so severe she would never recover. Now 10, she will always have the intellectual capacity of a 6-month- old as a result of the injuries.

On Thursday, Nykkole got a second chance at justice, her adoptive parents say.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled they can again sue the hospital, owned by the Mayo Foundation, for malpractice.

During the first trial, an Olmsted County District judge had excluded all evidence about the hospital staff's duty to report child abuse under the law. Based on the judge's instructions, the jury awarded no damages.

This time, in seeking damages for alleged negligent care, Nykkole's attorneys can tell the jury about the hospital staff's reporting obligation.

"It doesn't feel like a win. It feels like justice for her," said Nykkole's adoptive mother, Nancy Becker. "We'll go on and on until we feel she has the justice she deserves. It's about the principle - about abused children's rights."

The state joined Nykkole's parents in the lawsuit because it is paying for much of Nykkole's care, which could top $10 million during her lifetime.

"It's one of the greatest victories for the most vulnerable people in our society," said Chris Messerly, attorney for the adoptive parents and the state.

A Mayo Clinic spokesman said hospital officials will prove staff gave Nykkole excellent care and did her no harm.

Mayo spokesman John Murphy said the clinic will assert at trial "it was Nykkole's birth father, not Mayo Clinic, that harmed Nykkole."

Nykkole was born healthy July 26, 1997, at Methodist Hospital in Rochester. Her biological father, Brian Rossini, took her to the emergency room at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester on Aug. 17. Staff observed bruising on the baby's forearm and found a broken upper arm bone - the most commonly fractured bone in child abuse cases.

Rossini said the injury was accidental. While feeding her a bottle, he said, Nykkole "spasmed" and rolled from his arms. Rossini said he grabbed the falling baby's arm, causing the break.

Doctors concluded the injuries were not abuse and released Nykkole to her parents' care.

Her biological mother, Sabryna Koob, took the girl back to the emergency room Sept. 11, reporting the baby had vomited 10 times and was sleeping a lot. A doctor diagnosed her with a stomach ailment and sent her home with Koob.

On Sept. 15, Koob rushed the baby, pale and listless, to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed multiple skull fractures, multiple rib fractures, two broken legs and bleeding on the brain. She was admitted to the intensive care unit for shaken baby syndrome.

After her hospitalization, the state took custody of Nykkole and placed her in the care of foster parents Nancy and Michael Becker. Rossini was convicted of assault and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Koob pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Her sentence was not immediately available.

Both parents' parental rights were terminated and the Beckers adopted Nykkole at age 2.

"We took her home from the hospital with no intention of adopting her. We had four kids of our own," Nancy Becker said. "We fell in love with her and decided we couldn't live without her."

At age 10, Nykkole cannot walk, talk, sit up, feed or dress herself. She is fed through a tube. She communicates through giggles and crying. Nancy Becker provides her 24-hour care.

Nykkole attends special education classes. She will start fifth grade this fall. Though she is unable to eat, her parents let her taste yogurt and suckers.

"She likes lights," Nancy Becker said. "She likes music. She likes to be massaged and tickled. She will raise up that one arm she can raise and hold it up there while you tickle her arm. We sit next to her. She just wants to be close. It's just that closeness."

Nancy Becker said there will be no big payday for the family if they win at trial. Instead, they'll ensure Nykkole is taken care of for the rest of her life.

"She's got beautiful blue eyes," Nancy Becker said. "We love her the way she is. She's just a beautiful girl. ... Sometimes it's hard to look at her and see that she didn't have to be like that."

Soldier's Death Illustrates Futility Of Good Decisions

2007-08-17T07:21:00.001-07:00

20-year-old soldier killed in Iraq had found his niche
Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
August 17, 2007

Spc. Alun R. Howells spent most of his teenage years as a goth in dark and gloomy clothes. He later grew into a strapping young man in Army fatigues.

Howells, 20, attended Gunnison Valley School, an alternative campus for about 35 students, as an angry teen clad black and painted with dark makeup, said Neil Coen, the school's program coordinator. But he found his niche.

In 2004, Coen began to see Howells' transformation. He became a student leader who served as a mentor for other youngsters and he participated in community projects for the disadvantaged.

"One day he shows up in khaki pants, a white shirt and tennis shoes, and I said, 'What's going on?' " Coen remembered. "He just said, 'Yup, I'm over it.' "

On Thursday, Coen and Howells' former classmates toasted Howells at a friend's home in Gunnison after learning that he had been killed in action Monday in Baghdad, Iraq.

"When he went off to the military, he would commit himself to this kind of excellence as a man," Coen said. "This was fully his choice to get out there and be tested and see what his skills were. It was a time of exploration and making these kinds of commitments which were good no matter what happened. It was a no-lose deal."

After Howells graduated from high school, his parents, Gwyn and Jaena Howells, left their Gunnison home and moved to Wisconsin. His father gave up the Island Acres Motel in Gunnison and the Treasury Liquors in Crested Butte, which he owned.

Alun Howells stayed behind in Gunnison, though he eventually would join his parents. Howells had dual citizenship from the U.S. and Great Britain. On his Web page at MySpace.com, Howells wrote about wanting to travel and eventually return to the United Kingdom. He also wrote about pursuing a career in physical therapy.

Howells was with the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, in Fort Stewart, Ga. In one of his last Web page comments, he talked about spending time with his family and friends.

"I would like to meet all my family and friends again in a nice pub that's NOT IN IRAQ and sit down and have a beer and some fish 'n' chips with them and be grateful for their presence and humor and all the other things I took for granted before I left."

Hippo vs. Capybara

2007-08-17T05:08:00.001-07:00

Hippo attacks, kills capybara at Fla. zoo
Aug. 17, 2007

GULF BREEZE --
(AP) -- A capybara at a Florida Panhandle zoo died after it was attacked by an adult hippopotamus, zoo officials said Thursday.

The capybara, a large aquatic rodent, died last week at The Zoo Northwest Florida, just a month after a baby hippo was fatally attacked by an adult hippo. It is not known if the same hippo killed the capybara last week because no one witnessed the animal's death, the zoo's veterinarian, Dr. Gus Mueller, said.

The adult hippo bit the capybara, causing severe injuries to its rear end and stomach areas, Mueller said.

''It was a terrible, terrible wound,'' Mueller said. ``But that's what hippos do.''

Also in July, an adult giraffe died after sustaining a neck injury at the zoo. The capybara, called Capy, is the seventh death at the zoo since January.

The Zoo Northwest Florida also has reported financial problems recently. Besides the deaths of several popular animals, the zoo faces a $3 million debt exacerbated by back-to-back hurricanes.

Invisible Marijuana Made Her Miss Prom

2007-08-17T04:30:00.001-07:00

Teen sues police for missing prom
Jim Hannah
Kentucky Inquirer

An 18-year-old has sued three police officers, claiming she was wrongly arrested - causing her to miss prom and graduation.

Lacy Nicole Burden, who was a Simon Kenton High School senior at the time of her arrest, filed the lawsuit last week in Kenton Circuit Court.

Named as defendants are Independence Police Officers Mark Hampton and Matt Hicks and Kenton County Police Canine Officer Brett Benton.

Burden was arrested March 19 in the school parking lot and charged with one count of possession of marijuana.

She gave officers permission to search her car after a drug-sniffing dog indicated there might be drugs in the vehicle, according to court records.

Burden was suspended 10 days from school. When she was allowed to return, she could not participate in many senior activities, said her lawyer, Eric Deters.

The single misdemeanor drug charge was dropped on May 2 when prosecutors said the "alleged marijuana was so small ... it was not weighable," Deters wrote in the lawsuit.

Burden alleges in the suit that Independence police created a fraudulent lab report when testing the suspected marijuana to support an unwarranted arrest.

Deters said his client was publicly humiliated because students watched from school-building windows as she was arrested. Then, when she appeared in court to answer the charge, her class showed up at the justice center. The class was on a field trip that day, Deters said.

"We feel the case has no merit, and we intend on contesting it," said Dave Nichols, assistant Independence police chief. "Considering the litigation at the moment, we can not comment much further."

Deters quested why the department would be doing its own drug testing, but Nichols said it was a common practice among Northern Kentucky agencies to test small amounts of marijuana in misdemeanor cases.

Kenton County Police Chief Ed Butler said he couldn't comment on the allegations in the lawsuit but called Benton beyond reproach. He said he didn't believe Benton could be involved in any kind of conspiracy.

"I want to make it very clear that (Benton) is, without question, one of the finest police officers I have had the pleasure to work with."

Hijab Stylish, Convenient

2007-08-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

Juror caught listening to music under hijab
Reuters
August 17, 2007

LONDON (Reuters) -- Britain's attorney general decided yesterday that no action would be taken against a Muslim woman accused of listening to an MP3 music player under her hijab while on jury duty. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was thrown off the jury considering a murder trial when one of her fellow jurors reported seeing headphone wires coming out of her headscarf.

Sodomy Grandparents Cut Leg As Incentive

2007-08-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

Man sentenced for child-sex abuse
Others in family face a variety of sex charges including a number of incest allegations
The Salt Lake Tribune
08/17/2007 02:10:06 AM MDT

The patriarch of a Taylorsville family involved in three generations of incest and sexual abuse was sentenced Thursday to prison for up to 10 years. The 62-year-old man - whose name The Tribune is withholding to protect the identities of his grandchildren - had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of third-degree felony sexual abuse of a child.

Third District Judge Robert Adkins ordered three of the terms to run concurrently and the fourth count to run consecutively.

The man pleaded guilty to abusing his own children, who are now adults, when they were children.

Three of those adult children - ages 31, 34, and 36 - were charged with sexually abusing their own children.

A 36-year-old son has pleaded no contest to third-degree felony incest and is set for sentencing on Aug. 28.

The man's 31-year-old sister has pleaded guilty to third-degree felony incest and is set for sentencing Oct. 9.

Another sister, age 34, is charged with two counts each of sodomy on a child and sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. A $25,000 arrest warrant was issued for her when she failed to appear for a March court hearing.

The 59-year-old matriarch of the family was acquitted by a jury in September of two counts each of sodomy on a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies.

Prosecutor William Kendall said the abuse surfaced when one of the children reported to school officials that he was cut on the leg as coercion to participate in sexual activities.

Charges were filed in February 2006. The children were reportedly removed from their homes and in some cases adopted by other families. - Stephen Hunt

Man Forgot Taser; Stabs Bear With Machete

2007-08-17T04:24:00.002-07:00

Man fights off bear attack
Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, August 17, 2007

A man suffered serious injuries after walking between a mother bear and her three cubs Wednesday evening.

The man was checking an area near Grovedale, 20 kilometres south of Grande Prairie, for the upcoming deer hunt when he disturbed the bears.

Armed with a large machete-style hunting knife, he managed to stab the bear three times before it took off, said Grande Prairie RCMP Const. Leanne Beattie.

A man working outside heard cries for help and called the fire department around 9:30 p.m. The victim had bite marks and scratches and appeared to have at least one broken limb.

"That's good condition, considering," Beattie said. "He ended up unintentionally cutting between the mom and the cubs, and as a result, mom got a little upset and went after him."

After the attack, the man walked almost a kilometre back to the road. Despite his injuries, "he seemed all right," said Troy Smith, captain of the Grovedale volunteer fire department.

By the time the man was put into an ambulance, it was too dark to search the bush for the bear, Beattie said. Several Fish and Wildlife officers were unable to find the bear Thursday. Officials aren't certain what type of bear attacked the man.

Poured Cleaner In His Eyes

2007-08-17T04:24:00.001-07:00

4th teen charged in suspected gang rape
August 17, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. --A fourth teen has been charged in the suspected gang rape and assault of a woman and her 12-year-old son.
Article Tools

Tommy Lee Poindexter, 18, was indicted Thursday on charges of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, kidnapping and promoting sexual performance by a child, grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary with assault or battery.

Three other teens; Jakaris Taylor, 15; Nathan Walker, 16; and Avion Lawson, 14; were charged last month with similar charges. If convicted of all charges, they could face up to life in prison.

Prosecutors believe the four were among an armed group of as many as 10 teens wearing masks that raped the 35-year-old woman and beat her son. The woman told authorities she was forced at gunpoint to perform oral sex on her son during the June 18 attack at the Dunbar Village housing project. The attackers also beat the boy and poured cleaning solution into his eyes, police said.

Investigators said more arrests are possible.

It was not immediately known if Poindexter had an attorney. A telephone message left at the state attorney's office was not immediately returned.

Crime LOL!!!1

2007-08-17T04:23:00.001-07:00

Mich. man mistakes robbery for joke
August 17, 2007

FORT GRATIOT TOWNSHIP, Mich. --A convenience store customer was struck on the head with a gun when he mistook a robber for a friend who he thought was playing a practical joke, police said.

The masked man entered Sandler's Party Store about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, brandished a handgun and demanded money.

Patrick O'Brien, 21, walked up to the man, thinking he was a friend, and grabbed him in a playful way, police said. The gunman then hit O'Brien in the head with his gun.

The gunman fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

O'Brien was not seriously injured and did not seek medical treatment, the Times Herald of Port Huron reported.

He was visiting a friend at the store in Fort Gratiot Township, 55 miles northeast of Detroit.

Personable Bandits Prey On Elderly

2007-08-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Three bandits hit up elderly woman
Bevin Milavsky, Lehigh Valley Express-Times
August 16, 2007 12:53PM

Bethlehem police are looking for three women who stole $3,950 worth of jewelry Wednesday morning from an elderly woman's home.

Police said the a woman knocked on the door of Kathleen McBride in the 1600 block of Lois Lane shortly before noon and told her she was cleaning a home two doors down and needed to leave the homeowner a note. McBride brought her into her kitchen and gave her a pencil and paper.

The woman then started talking about a new washing machine she had purchased. She told McBride she did not know how to hook it up and asked if she could see hers. McBride took the woman into her basement.

The woman sat on the stairs, blocking McBride's path. McBride told police while she was explaining the washing machine, she heard other people upstairs and managed to push past the younger woman.

She saw two women run from the home, and the third followed them. She described the first woman as Portuguese or Hispanic, between 35 and 40, standing about 5 feet 3 inches tall and heavyset. She was wearing a pink dress.

Police Detective Sgt. Mark DiLuzio said in the warmer months police often receive reports of transient groups that come into town and prey upon the elderly.

Crafty Man Uses Skills For Petty Theft

2007-08-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Man uses stick, wire to steal cigarettes
Bevin Milavsky, Lehigh Valley Express-Times
August 16, 2007 13:22PM

A 49-year-old Bethlehem man threaded a piece of a tree branch and a cable TV wire through a coin slot to steal 15 packs of cigarettes early this morning from the Hess gas station on Broadway, police said.

Police said Jerome Anderson, whose last known address was in the 700 block of Broadway, entered the gas station in the 200 block of Broadway about 2 o'clock. The cigarettes were worth $52.

He was arraigned before District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft, receiving stolen property and public drunkenness.

America's Drunkest Legislature

2007-08-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Wisconsin lawmakers show their love for beer through favorable legislation
Scott Bauer, Associated Press
August 16, 2007

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin lawmakers seem to love their beer. They've allowed grocery stores to hand out free samples, shunned a proposal to boost the tax on it and ensured that daylight saving time didn't hasten last call.

And other pro-beer legislation is brewing.

Politicians know the rich tradition of brewing in the state and treat beer-related issues with kid gloves, said Jerry Apps, who has written a history of Wisconsin breweries. Brewers and sellers also pose one of the state's most powerful lobbies.

“It's beer, cheese, brats and the Packers. Let's face it, it's been our history for some time,” he said.

Wisconsin's taste for beer can be traced to its German settlers, who opened the first breweries and saw their numbers grow to roughly 400 by the late 1800s. The state now has around 60, including the Miller Brewing Co., the nation's second-leading producer.

Milwaukee, often called the “Brew City,” once was home to the Miller, Blatz, Schlitz and Pabst breweries. Only Miller remains, though the city is home to several microbreweries and brew pubs. It's no accident that the city's major league baseball team is named the Milwaukee Brewers and plays at Miller Park.

“It's one of our icons,” Apps said of the beverage. “You don't go lobbing stones at our icons.”

Just ask state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison. Her proposal to increase the tax on beer went flat.

“We have given more favorable treatment to the beer industry than any other in this state,” Berceau said. “Everybody's so afraid of the beer tax and beer industry.”

So afraid, it seems, that Berceau could find only two lawmakers among her 131 colleagues to co-sponsor the proposal and boost the beer tax for the first time since 1969 and only the third time since Prohibition ended.

The Tavern League of Wisconsin, the lobbying arm for the state's 13,000 bars, is generally recognized as one of the most powerful forces in the Capitol.

“I guess overall we're treated all right,” said the group's executive director, Pete Madland. “I think people understand the nature of our business and our industry.”

Berceau's not the only one frustrated with the beer industry's influence with state lawmakers.

“Drunken driving issues, especially in Wisconsin, are tough for us,” said Lindsay Desormier of the Wisconsin chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “I think part of it is just the culture in Wisconsin.”

Though the state's penalties for some serious DUI offenses are on par with others, Wisconsin is the only state where a first offense is treated like a traffic ticket with no chance of jail time, Desormier said.

Wisconsin is also one of the few states that allows parents to purchase alcohol for their children to consume in their presence, she said.

And while the law prohibits anyone under age 21 from entering a bar, unless accompanied by a parent, there are numerous exemptions that allow them to go to such places as bowling alleys and volleyball courts where alcohol is served. Two pending bills also would make exceptions for batting cages at beer-serving establishments and the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire.

Forbes.com dubbed Milwaukee “America's Drunkest City” last year out of a list of 35 major metropolitan areas. In a 2005 study of data from 40 states, the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Wisconsin had the highest binge-drinking rate among adults and the second-highest among college students.

Binge drinking is defined as having five or more beers in one sitting during the past month.

There was plenty of drinking within sight of the Capitol on Aug. 11 when beer lovers descended on Madison for the Great Taste of the Midwest, one of the largest beer festivals in the country featuring 500 different beers.

About half of the 100 brewers, and most of the 5,000 ticket holders, hailed from Wisconsin, said festival chairman Bill Rogers.

“I guess everybody knows Wisconsin loves beer and beer helped build this state and make it what is,” he said. “I think some of the legislators get it.”

Apparently, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle gets it.

He signed into law a bill that ensured there would be no confusion about last call when taverns adjusted their clocks for daylight savings time in March. The Legislature made it clear that bartenders could keep serving after closing time sprang forward.

Doyle also signed a bill, behind unanimous support of the Legislature, allowing such retailers as grocery stores and liquor stores to promote a particular beer brand or special with free samples.

The legislative session hasn't gone completely in the brewers' favor, however.

Small brewery owners mounted a protest at a July hearing on a proposal to set new limits on how much beer they could produce. They handed lawmakers empty beer bottles stuffed with notes decrying the proposal.

The day before the hearing, angry brewers put a new spin on the Boston Tea Party and dumped beer into the Milwaukee River.

The bill's author subsequently tabled the proposal.

Burn The Motherfucker Down

2007-08-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Teens jailed after Boise crime spree that ends with a Jeep in flames
Idaho Statesman

Two teenagers are accused of a Boise crime spree early this morning that included stealing a car, driving into two portable classrooms at Hillside Junior High and then lighting a Jeep on fire.

Dustin James Batch, 18, of Boise, and Anthony Garcia, 19, of McAllen, Texas, are being held in the Ada County Jail without bond on felony charges of burglary, grand theft auto, arson, malicious injury to property, and attempted burglary. They also are charged with misdemeanor consumption of alcohol.

The teens will make their initial court appearance Friday, and bond will be set at that time.

Boise police say the crime spree began around 3 a.m. today when a car was reported stolen out of a garage in the 4500 block of West Waterfront Way. The teens are accused of driving that car to Hillside Junior High at 36th Street and Hill Road and trying to break into the school.

Police belive the teens then drove the stolen car into two portable classrooms at Hillside, badly damaging both, before abandoning the car at the school.

Police say the teens then walked through the neighborhood near the school and attempted to break into several cars before getting into a Jeep and lighting some papers inside on fire. The fire spread through the vehicle and caused extensive damage before fire crews were able to put it out.

Police responding to the calls from the public found and arrested the teens in the Hillside neighborhood and arrested them, according to reports.

Police officials did not release a suspected motive in the vandalism/crime spree.

Veterinary Medicine For Fun And Profit

2007-08-16T12:18:00.001-07:00

Farmer may have given woman cow hormone
August 16, 2007

GALENA, Md. --A dairy farmer hoping to induce a woman he impregnated to miscarry gave her a soda containing a cattle hormone sometimes used to force abortions in cows, police said.

William Stanley Sutton III, 25, added ProstaMate last week to a soda he gave to 21-year-old Lauren Ashley Tucker, according to documents charging Sutton with reckless endangerment, assault and poisoning.

Tucker felt sick to her stomach and vomited after drinking the 20-ounce soda that "tasted nasty and burnt her throat," according to court records. She went to the hospital Aug. 9, and the hospital reported a possible poisoning to police.

Tucker was treated and released and is now 15 weeks pregnant.

ProstaMate is a hormone given to cows in the breeding process to bring all cows in heat at the same time. It can also be used to stimulate an early term abortion in a heifer that gets pregnant too young or a cow that mates with an undesired bull.

Tucker told authorities Sutton tried to get her to drink more of the soda, "telling her that soda helps an upset stomach," according to charging documents. She told police Sutton is the father of the fetus and that he wanted her to have an abortion, the records state.

Sutton told police he bought some ProstaMate from a veterinarian and put it in Tucker's soda while she was visiting him, according to the documents.

According to police, Sutton said he didn't mean to harm Tucker, just to cause her to miscarry.

"It's an unthinkable type of situation," Kent County sheriff's Sgt. Glenn M. Owens said.

Sutton was charged Monday. A judge released him on $50,000 bond and ordered him not to have contact with Tucker.

Sutton's lawyer, Mitch Mowell, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.

Put Away Childish Things

2007-08-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Teen who married teacher loses lawsuit seeking toys from parents
The Associated Press

BOLIVIA, N.C. - A 16-year-old girl who married her 40-year-old former teacher cannot force her parents to return her Beanie Baby collection, a PlayStation video game console and other belongings, a judge ruled.

Windy Wuchae filed a lawsuit against her parents, Dennis and Betty Hager, for items valued at more than $1,000 that her parents kept after she moved out to marry Brenton Wuchae, her cross-country coach at South Brunswick High School.

Magistrate Deborah Ramphal dismissed the case but said the teenager could appeal.

Brenton Wuchae resigned his teaching and coaching position in June on the same day he married Windy. The couple now works at a Food Lion grocery store in Oak Island, where both the Wuchaes and Hagers live.

Robert Tatum, an attorney for the Hagers, said Windy's property and earnings belonged to her parents because they were obtained before she was emancipated. The Hagers reluctantly signed consent forms allowing the marriage.

"The case was dismissed as a matter of law because all of the items belong to her parents," Tatum said after the hearing Wednesday. Both couples declined comment.

The Hagers have also filed lawsuits against two school systems. One accuses the school board in Guilford County - where Brenton Wuchae worked before moving to Bruswick County - of failing to alert authorities that he had inappropriate relationships with female students at Southern Guilford High School.

The second lawsuit accuses the Bruswick County school system of failing to adequately investigate Wuchae. School officials have said they found no evidence of any romantic relationship and put limits on Wuchae's contact with Windy.

Glad They Got The Second Guy

2007-08-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Second brick-throwing teen sentenced today
Donna J. Miller, Cleveland Plain Dealer
August 16, 2007 11:30AM

The second of three teens who threw bricks off highway bridges was sentenced today in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.

The 16-year-old Brook Park boy broke down before Judge Thomas O'Malley and cried as he was given a sentence of six months in detention that he won't have to serve if he performs 60 hours of community service, probation, makes restitution of about $1,000, writes apologies to some 40 victims and has no contact with his two co-defendants.

Wednesday, O'Malley imposed the same sentence on a 15-year-old from Middleburg Heights, except that boy owes $4,000 in restitution. More than 40 people sustained car damage in March while driving through Strongsville, Brecksville, Independence and Westlake on Interstates 71 and 77 and the Ohio Turnpike. One driver was injured. The third teen has not yet been scheduled for sentencing.

Boys Don't Cry

2007-08-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

3 face dismissal for jailing woman with men
David Nakamura, Washington Post

City officials plan to fire three corrections officers who failed to realize a woman was being held in the male detention unit at the Washington, D.C., jail last month even after she had been strip-searched and allowed to shower with male inmates, government sources said Wednesday.

Virginia Grace Soto, 47, was arrested July 14 and thought to be a man despite her repeated protests otherwise, according to two internal reports by D.C. police and the Department of Corrections obtained by The Washington Post.

Although Soto came in contact with at least nine jail employees, only three are being terminated. Government sources wouldn’t disclose their names Wednesday, but one was said to be a supervisor.

The corrections officers “failed to comply (with) standard intake search policies as mandated,” a 73-page internal report by the Corrections Department says.

“We want to send a signal that this behavior will not be tolerated,” said a high-ranking Washington, D.C., government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the termination proceedings are underway.

“They should have taken the right precautions to verify the sex of person. And she should have been treated with a lot more respect.”

According to the reports, mistakes were made at several points in Soto’s arrest and court processing, including by city police officers and the U.S. Marshals Service. The only disciplinary action being taken now is against the corrections officers.

Soto was interviewed for the corrections report. The 105-page police report, dated Saturday, concludes the error was not the result of misconduct by police. The report says that Soto “has not filed a complaint” about the mixup and that “attempts to locate her have been unsuccessful.”
Soto, a white Hispanic woman originally from the Dominican Republic, is 5-foot-3 and weighs 130 pounds. She has a “slight build,” with brown hair and brown eyes, according to the corrections report, which describes Soto as “androgynous in nature.”

Soto has used aliases and has a history of misdemeanor and felony arrests in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Virginia, the report says.

The reports reveal that Soto was arrested twice since April and that both times officials classified her as a man.

The mixup began April 28 when Soto was arrested on suspicion of prostitution. Although she told the two arresting officers she was a woman, she was ultimately booked as a man after being interviewed by Sgt. Tania Bell of the city’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit.

Bell told investigators that Soto was belligerent and incomprehensible during the interview, part of which took place through an interpreter who spoke to Soto in Spanish, according to a report by the police department’s internal affairs division. Bell ultimately classified Soto as a “transgendered male.”

Soto was released on her own recognizance and failed to show up for a trial in that case.

She was arrested again July 14 on drug-related charges. Although the officers, and hospital workers who examined her that day, thought her to be a woman, she was processed as a man by an unidentified cell block technician based on computer records related to her April arrest, according to the report by the corrections division.

Soto spent two weekend nights in a solitary holding cell in an area reserved for male suspects awaiting a court appearance July 16, when U.S. marshals took her to D.C. Superior Court. Soto told investigators that she informed the marshals she was not a man, but was “mocked” and called “thing.”

After her arraignment, Soto and 11 male prisoners were taken by the marshals to the men’s receiving unit at the D.C. jail. Two officers who interviewed her during initial processing failed to follow proper procedures that should have detected the mixup, according to the corrections report.

Soto was then strip-searched by two other jail officers who failed to notice she was a woman, in part because she had covered her genitals with her hand, the report said. The only thing unusual the two officers reported spotting was “the bandage on the lower left side of her back.”

“I didn’t see nothing,” one jail officer told investigators, “but I was still thinking male.”

A male inmate who was responsible for issuing prison clothes saw Soto naked after she had been searched and yelled out that she was a woman. Authorities failed to respond, even though one officer acknowledged hearing the inmate yell.

Before dressing, Soto entered the shower and bathed with four male inmates, the report said. She was later photographed, X-rayed and given an armband. At that point, she told an officer she was female.

“Sure you are,” the officer replied, according to the report, “but your identification says otherwise.”

Soto was then taken to a holding cell and interviewed by Cpl. Maria Duncan, who spoke with her in Spanish. Duncan ordered her removed from the cell and taken to an examination room, where she was pronounced by a doctor to be a woman.

Procedures “within the inmate receiving process were in place that should have made this determination sooner if they were more stringently adhered to,” the report says.

The U.S. Marshals Service did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday. Bell could not be reached for comment.

Hedging Her Refinery Interests

2007-08-16T10:33:00.001-07:00

DeLand girl, 8, afraid of hurricanes, tried to pedal back to Ohio
Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
10:58 AM EDT, August 16, 2007

When an 8-year-old girl was reported missing from a DeLand home Wednesday evening, the response from law enforcement was quick and massive.

The girl was last seen about 6:30 p.m. riding her bike in front of the home. Twenty minutes later, when her dad arrived home, she was nowhere to be found. After he drove around the neighborhood looking for her, police were called.

As the Volusia County Sheriff's Air One helicopter searched from above, DeLand police officers questioned the girl's parents, talked to neighbors and checked out a homeless camp not far from the home on Cypress Oak Circle.

The family recently moved to DeLand from Columbus, Ohio, and the girl had not made any friends in the area, her parents told police. She had never been missing before.

About 45 minutes after the girl was reported missing, neighbors and deputies in the helicopter spotted her on East Plymouth Avenue. By that time she had pedaled almost a mile, which put her just a little more than 900 miles from her destination. The girl was heading home to Columbus. There has been a lot of news lately about hurricanes and she told police she was afraid of hurricanes. And, after all, Columbus was her home, she told the officers.

Police took the girl home and reunited her with her parents.

Audacia et Fortitudo

2007-08-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Nude thieves strike DeLand golf course
Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
Aug 13, 2007 11:26:29 AM

It has been three days since a group of teenagers stole a flag pole from the DeLand Country Club, but they're probably still talking about it.

That's because although the theft was petty, the style was brazen.

Three teenagers in a black Ford Expedition stopped near the course on Country Club Road about 7:20 a.m., jumped a fence and stole a flag pole.

Did we mention all three were nude?

DeLand police have closed the case. Officials at the country club didn't want an investigation but did ask that a report be taken to document the theft. And, perhaps, to prove they aren't making it up when they tell the story.

Mystery Drink

2007-08-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Traffic stop prompts mystery drink
Cincinnati Enquirer

A 53-year-old man stopped Wednesday in Lebanon for a suspected traffic violation was flown by helicopter to a regional hospital after police saw the man drink an unknown substance.

Lebanon police report they stopped the man at the intersection of Mound Street and Columbus Avenue. After the vehicle came to a stop, the driver suddenly drank something police did not identify.

Lebanon police say they are still investigating. The Enquirer will update this story as more information becomes available.

Unfamiliar Characters

2007-08-16T07:38:00.001-07:00

Couple tries to name baby 'at' symbol
August 16, 2007

BEIJING --A Chinese couple seeking a distinctive and modern name for their child chose the commonly used Internet 'at' symbol, much to the consternation of Chinese officials.

The unidentified couple and the attempted naming were cited Thursday by a Chinese government official as an example of bizarre names creeping into the Chinese language.

The father "said 'the whole world uses it to write e-mails and translated into Chinese it means 'love him,'"' Li Yuming, the vice director of the State Language Commission, said at a news conference.

The symbol pronounced in English as 'at' sounds like the Chinese phrase "love him."

Written Chinese does not use an alphabet but is comprised of characters, sometimes making it difficult to develop new words for new or foreign things and ideas.

In their quest for a different name, Li said that the parents of baby '@' were not alone. As of last year, only 129 surnames accounted for 87 percent of all surnames in China, Li said, suggesting that the uniformity drove people to find more individual given names.

"There was even a 'Zhao-A,' a 'King Osrina' and other extremely individualistic names," Li said, according to a transcript of the news conference posted on the government's main web site, http://www.gov.cn.

Li did not say whether police, who are the arbiters of names because they issue identity cards, rejected baby '@' and the others. But nationwide last year there were 60 million people's names that used "unfamiliar characters," Li said.

Living Well Is the Best Revenge

2007-08-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Brutalized teen had drugs in system when he jumped from ship
07:36 AM CDT on Thursday, August 16, 2007
Associated Press

HOUSTON - A teen who survived a gruesome racial assault and jumped to his death from a cruise ship more than a year later was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana when he died, according to toxicology reports.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner's office had earlier ruled David Ritcheson's July 1 death a suicide. Toxicology reports released Wednesday revealed the drugs in his system and showed he tested negative for alcohol.

Ritcheson, 18, had gone on a cruise to Mexico with some friends on June 30 when early the next morning he climbed a tower on the ship and jumped into the Gulf of Mexico after attempts to talk him down failed.

Carlos Leon, Ritcheson's lawyer and a family friend, said it is "not uncommon" for crime victims to turn to drugs. He said he was "disappointed, but not shocked" by the toxicology results.

"We can't forget he was an 18-year-old man," Leon said.

Ritcheson, a Mexican-American, was beaten unconscious and sodomized with a plastic pole by a teen shouting "White Power!" in April 2006 at a suburban Houston home as a group of teens partied, drank and took cocaine and Xanax.

His attackers also stomped on him, burned him with cigarettes, cut him with a knife and poured bleach on him before leaving him for dead. It was hours before his naked body was discovered and medical help was called.

The attack was apparently triggered by Ritcheson's drunken pass toward the 12-year-old sister of one of the other teens.

His attackers, David Henry Tuck, who sports racist tattoos, including a swastika, and Keith Robert Turner were convicted separately of aggravated sexual assault.

Tuck, then 18, was sentenced to life in prison. Turner, then 17, was sentenced to 90 years. Both are eligible for parole after 30 years.

The attack, which drew nationwide attention, prompted federal lawmakers to craft legislation that strengthens the nation's hate crime laws. In April, Ritcheson testified before Congress on the bill, which is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ritcheson struggled with the physical impact of the attack, including a lengthy hospital stay and more than 30 surgeries, as well the extensive media coverage and humiliation he felt, Leon said. Leon said he thinks "drugs enhanced whatever internal demons" Ritcheson was struggling with.
It was "mental torture" for Ritcheson to learn the details of the attack from media coverage, Leon said. But Leon said he didn't think Ritcheson planned to commit suicide. He left no note.

Leon said he believes the decision to jump was made in a matter of minutes.

"I think he had plenty of fight left," Leon said. "When you do drugs, you are at your deepest point. None of us can imagine what he went through."

Bear Did Not Comply - Tasered!

2007-08-16T05:18:00.001-07:00

Bear Tasered by police officers dies
August 15, 2007
Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel

A black bear stunned twice with Tasers by Orlando police died Tuesday evening, but reports show it would still be alive if humans had not been feeding the wild animal.

Residents of the Tivoli Woods neighborhood called 911 about 8 p.m. when the bear returned there searching for food for at least the third time in a week.

Unidentified residents had been feeding the animal in defiance of state Fish and Wildlife guidelines, so the bear no longer feared human contact, according to police reports.

"It's just a bummer all the way around for us," police Sgt. Barbara Jones said today of the fatal confrontation. "Everything the Fish and Wildlife people was telling us to do, didn't work."

Residents in the 4700 block of Walnut Ridge Drive complicated efforts to shoo away the bear by refusing police requests to go inside their homes.

"We also observed dozens of citizens standing on their front lawns taking pictures of the animal," wrote Officer Frank Sikos of broadcasting pleas over his patrol car's public address system to avoid the bear. "Many of the residents did not comply."

For 45 minutes, police followed the bear blaring sirens and flashing emergency lights as it wandered house to house along Walnut Ridge Drive, Oak Crest Road, Tarflower Lane and Spindletree Lane.

When the bear returned to Walnut Ridge Drive, it walked into an open garage where residents Jennielyn Rodrigues, Sovet Navarez, William Hodge and Gary Navarez were sitting at a table."

All four began screaming as the bear charged at them," the report states. "Hodge threw a chair at the bear as (they) attempted to enter their home."

One of the police officers got ready to use his shotgun to shoot the bear but feared hitting the people. The bear wandered outside again, where police officers tried to encourage it to escape harm by heading into nearby woods."

The bear did not comply and instead turned toward us," Sikos wrote. "The bear was more interested in entering the garbage cans around the homes than avoiding the officers on the scene."

The animal came within a car length of Sikos and took two more strides despite his efforts to scare it away.

"I did not want to use deadly force on the animal," he wrote. "I deployed my department-issued Taser, striking the bear in the torso."

The 50,000 volts of electricity slowed the bear long enough for officers to lasso one leg and its neck with animal-catch poles. That didn't do much other than upset it.

"The bear became agitated and we moved from yard to yard as the bear tired. However, the bear had spurts of energy," Sikos wrote of being pulled around the neighborhood.

Another officer zapped the animal a second time with a Taser and a second leg was harnessed with a catch pole, according to reports.

"We again moved from yard to yard as the bear wrestled with us," Sikos wrote. "We then observed the bear appeared to have passed out. A short time later, we determined the animal had passed away."

Jones said the officers had no choice.

"We couldn't leave until the people went inside and the bear went into the woods. As long as the people remained there we had to treat the bear as a threat," she said. "Everybody loves animals and they're cute, but they're not cute if they maul somebody."

The cause of death will be determined after a necropsy ordered by state Fish and Wildlife.

Sheep Smells Like Shit

2007-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

Pepper the sheep can stay, despite aroma
August 15, 2007
Associated Press

DIXON, Calif. --Pepper's aroma is decidedly not like the seasoning for which she is named. Yet the Dixon City Council has opted to let Pepper the sheep remain with her family in their suburban backyard despite objections about the unpleasant odors she gives off.

"I'm just emotionally drained," said Pepper's owner, Natalie Angelman, after the council voted Tuesday. "I'm so overwhelmed. It's been a long road and I'm very pleased with their decision."

Pepper has lived in the Angelmans' backyard for six years, but in the past few years a strong odor has drifted from the property, said neighbor Jason Wentz.

"The smell is a mix of alfalfa, sheep, urine and feces," Wentz said. "I never wanted to make this a neighborhood issue, but the next thing I know, we're the villains of the community."

The Angelmans said they have eliminated the smell Pepper gives off by taking steps such as spending hundreds of dollars on peppermint-scented cleaner and air fresheners and moving Pepper's pen.

Council members said the Angelmans have done everything they could to minimize the odor and be good neighbors. However, they urged them not to buy another sheep once Pepper dies.

"I think we need to do whatever we need to make it stay, but please don't get another sheep," said Vice Mayor Michael Smith.

Girl Hates Fags

2007-08-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Teen gets probation for fliers
Carolyn Starks, Chicago Tribune
10:08 PM CDT, August 15, 2007

One of two teenage girls who distributed anti-gay fliers outside a Crystal Lake high school was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation and ordered to write a letter of apology.

The girl, now 17, also was sentenced to 14 days in the McHenry County Jail, but Circuit Judge Michael Chmiel suspended the sentence as long as she abides by the rules of her probation.

The teen pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges under a deal with prosecutors who dropped a felony hate-crime charge.

She and a friend, then 16 and both students at Crystal Lake South High School, were arrested May 11 after they had distributed about 40 fliers in the student parking lot at the school. The fliers had a photograph of two males kissing and included inflammatory words. One of the males who was identified in the photo was a classmate.

The girls and their lawyers have characterized the incident as a prank, but Chmiel said he was troubled because the girls made more copies when they ran out of fliers.

"You splattered him and the way you described him across this whole parking lot," Chmiel told the girl. "You took the law in your own hands."

The girl said she was angry because one of the boys, who had been a good friend, was calling her names and threatening her.

"I'm very sorry," the teen said in court. "It was basically a joke. We took it too far."

Speaking about the classmate, she said, "I'm sorry for what I did to him emotionally."

Charles McKenney, the girl's lawyer, had sought court supervision and told the judge that the girl has been following the rules of her home detention since her arrest.

Robert Windon, an assistant state's attorney, asked the judge for a 30-day suspended sentence and probation, citing the girl's 11 previous contacts with police and her alcohol and marijuana use.

The other girl, who also pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest under a similar deal, is expected to be sentenced next month.

30 Addicts in House

2007-08-16T04:33:00.000-07:00

Nanaimo man returns from trip, finds 30 addicts in house
CanWest News Service
Thursday, August 16, 2007

NANAIMO -- When Tim Lander left for Europe there were only two tenants staying with him in his south Nanaimo home.

When he got back after three weeks, more than 30 heroin addicts had moved in and staked their claim on his turn-of-the-century house, dealing drugs and wreaking havoc on the neighbourhood.

The 69-year-old retiree is now in a battle to save his home from being deemed a nuisance property, but he says he will keep letting the city's poor live with him.

"I've got a house available," he said. "There are a lot of people who are cold and need a place to stay."

He's been opening his home to the homeless for several years, offering a place for them to sleep, have a shower or grab a quick meal from the pot of stew he keeps on his hot plate. Some have even set up tents in his front and back yards.

When Lander left to visit his brother and sister in Europe, he had no qualms about leaving his home open to two tenants who'd been staying with him. "When I got back, there were 30 people in here," he said. "All heroin users."

Since May 1, the RCMP have responded to 11 calls about his home, including alleged drug use, trafficking, disturbances and theft.

This week, council members gave him one month to get the disturbances in check or his home will be declared a nuisance property -- which means any police calls will be charged to him.

Neighbour Joe Wiesner is fed up with Lander's charitable nature.

He said constant traffic could devalue neighbouring properties. He also suspected prostitutes were coming and going from the home during Lander's absence.

Rotting, Headless Carcasses "Not Uncommon"

2007-08-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

Dozens of headless walruses found on Alaska's beaches
Mary Pemberton, AP
August 16, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Dozens of walrus carcasses have washed up on beaches this summer, many missing their heads and ivory tusks.

While rotting, headless carcasses are not uncommon along beaches in western Alaska in the summer, the number of carcasses washing up in Norton Sound has prompted an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Federal authorities don't know if a crime has occurred, said Steve Oberholtzer, a special agent in Anchorage. But he said investigators are looking into two possibilities: Either someone who is not an Alaska native is poaching walruses or Alaska natives are not salvaging enough of the animals.

Only Alaska's indigenous people are allowed to subsistence hunt for walrus. The tusks are often carved or used in native arts and crafts. Non-natives can also harvest walrus tusks if they find a carcass. However, non-natives can't sell or profit from them.

Oberholtzer said Wednesday cases of a non-native illegally killing a walrus is unusual.

However, he said the agency does have anywhere from one to eight or more cases a year of wasteful take by Alaska natives.

The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act requires at a minimum the heart, liver, flippers, chest meat with blubber, and some red meat be used, he said. Violators face a maximum $100,000 fine and one year in prison, he said.

In late June and early July, 79 walrus carcasses were counted along a 40-mile stretch between Elim and Unalakleet - about twice as many as in any year in the past decade, Oberholtzer said. "

"Every one of them had the head removed," he said. The ones that investigators got a close look at had been shot, he said.

Pacific walruses are not considered threatened or endangered.

The population was estimated at more than 200,000 in 1990, the most recent count.

In 2005, Alaska native subsistence hunters harvested 1,590 walrus. Another 1,470 were killed by Russian subsistence hunters. The total number, including the estimate of those shot but lost in the sea, was 5,276 animals.

Mean Mugging

2007-08-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

14-year-old who shot boy, 13, is sent to Ethan Allen
Bullet paralyzed victim from the waist down
Sarah Carr, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Aug. 15, 2007

A 14-year-old boy who fired shots while he was near the home of Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West earlier this month - paralyzing a 13-year-old from the waist down - was sentenced Wednesday to two years at Ethan Allen School in the Town of Delafield.

Before the sentencing in Milwaukee County Children's Court, the 13-year-old's relatives made an impassioned plea that the shooter visit the victim in the hospital to see the tragedy he caused.
Clutching a photo of her grandchildren, the victim's grandmother addressed the shooter: "That's my grandson . . . please look, this is (him). That's his brother and sister. You changed all their lives. He can't play with them anymore. His little brother doesn't understand why his brother can't even get out of bed.

"You've ruined my family's life, and you've ruined your own life."

The 14-year-old had been dating one of West's daughters, and was hanging out with her around 10 p.m. Aug. 1 on the porch of West's home in the 1100 block of W. Scott St. before the shooting. According to statements by witnesses included in the Children's Court petition, the victim was out bicycling with another boy that evening.

One witness said that the first time the two boys biked by the house, the 14-year-old "mean mugged" them, and they "mean mugged" back in turn.

Another witness said that when the victim bicycled by West's house for a second time, another group of boys on bicycles and on foot passed by. One of that group began flashing gang signs.
Almost immediately, the 14-year-old began to fire shots toward the bicyclists, according to witness accounts.

The victim fell off his bike, at which point his friends tried to carry him away.

The shooter told police that he felt threatened by the gang signs, but does not belong to a gang himself.

There is no indication that the shooter and victim knew each other.

West later said that she had gone outside after the shooting, and when she learned who the suspect was, she led police to his house. Afterward, West said, her family endured death threats. On Wednesday, she declined to comment further about the case.

The defense attorney said his 14-year-old client had "panicked" that night out of fear and wanted the gun to protect himself from gang members. The boy had no prior record.
But Assistant District Attorney Steven Licata called the 14-year-old's version of events "absolute baloney."

"Why did he have a gun in the first place?" Licata asked.

Before announcing the sentence - the maximum available - Children's Court Judge Thomas Cooper told the 14-year-old: "I suspect you never fired a gun before. You were probably shocked at the noise the gun made."

The judge went on to say that as hard as the sentence will be on the boy, "at least at the end of two, four years, you will be able to walk out. The victim will never be able to do that."

The shooter's grandmother also addressed the court and the victim's family. "I know how sincerely sorry he is," she said. "It was fear based. He didn't mean to hurt him."

"Was he afraid of my grandson?" the victim's grandmother asked, incredulously.

After expressing sympathy for each other, the two women embraced, weeping in each other's arms before the court.

Let's Kill a Horse Today

2007-08-16T04:26:00.001-07:00

Horse OK after being struck with hatchet
August 15, 2007
Associated Press

ADAMS, Tenn. --A horse is expected to recover after it was found Wednesday with a hatchet stuck in its skull between the eyes. The hatchet used for cutting tobacco plants was removed by veterinarian Dan Hitch, who stitched up the wound. The blade did not strike her brain and just missed some vital nerves.

"It was a quarter- to half-inch into the skull itself," Hitch told WTVF-TV in Nashville.

"It's unfortunate," he said. "It's an awful thing. No creature deserves that kind of treatment."

Owner Sheila Wilborn said she couldn't understand why someone would attack her animal.
"I mean someone came by with a tobacco hatchet and said let's kill a horse today. This was planned," Wilborn said.

Robertson County authorities were searching for a suspect who could face felony animal cruelty charges.

"I've never seen anything like this," Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Ryan said.

They Stomped Precious

2007-08-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

Murder charges stick in 'Precious' case
Eileen Kelley, Cincinnati Inquirer

Free from jail less than a month, 34-year-old Keisha Pitts repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes as a juvenile court judge said there was enough probable cause to go forward with the murder charges against her 15-year-old son.

Judge Thomas R. Lipps said he will decide Aug. 29 if the case against Alfonso “Lil Al” Price will be held in juvenile court or adult court.

Alfonso and co-defendant Jebrell Wright, 17, are accused of stomping on Alfonso’s pregnant girlfriend’s swollen belly July 11, causing the unborn child’s skull to fracture.

Jebrell’s case was bound over to adult court on Wednesday. Lipps ordered him to be held on a $400,000 bond. “I’m satisfied,” said Betty Payne, who would have been the great-grandmother of Kerria Anderson’s baby. “I want justice to be (served) because it should be.”

Lipps is required to consider a mental evaluation as well as the youth’s juvenile record before making a decision on whether to have the teen tried as an adult or juvenile because of Alfonso’s age.

Alfonso has at least 10 charges on his juvenile record.

Anderson, 18, was in labor for 24 hours after the beating in Over-the-Rhine. The baby, whom she planned to name Precious, was pronounced dead after Anderson was checked into a hospital. Two doctors – an obstetrician gynecologist and a forensic pathologist – testified Wednesday that the unborn child who was roughly 29-weeks into development and would have survived even 10 weeks premature had it not been for the trauma.

Anderson spent 40 minutes on the witness stand. At times, she appeared confused during questioning.

She said she was at a bus stop in Over-the-Rhine when she saw her ex-boyfriend Alfonso and was coaxed inside an apartment building. Once inside, she testified Jebrell punched her in the face with a closed fist. She said she fought back and begged Alfonso to stop the attack.

He didn’t, she said.“B---- you should have got an abortion, now your baby is going to die,” Anderson said Alfonso told her.

On Friday, a lone person carried the small white casket through Baltimore Pike Cemetery where Precious was buried after people in the community pitched in to make sure there was a proper burial.

Pitts, Alfonso’s mother, sat just feet from her son during Wednesday’s hearing. Alfonso showed little reaction to testimony from Anderson, the two doctors and Cincinnati homicide detective Kurt Ballman. Pitts has been arrested 42 times. She was last jail in Hamilton County on June 27 on domestic violence charges, On July 16, she was released without bond. Eleven days later, the charges were dismissed.

Nun Had No Money

2007-08-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

Man arrested after trying to rob a nun
August 15, 2007

MADISON, Wis. --A would-be thief came up empty-handed after trying to rob a nun who had taken a vow of poverty. Madison police arrested the man later in the day. They gave the following account:

The man broke into the 61-year-old Catholic nun's home shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday. When she told him she had no money, he forced her to drive him around in her car for almost an hour in search of money.

As they drove, the robber apologized "to the victim and wonders if he's going to be forgiven by her and the Catholic Church," police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

The two did not stop at a bank or cash machine because the Sinsinawa Dominican sister continued to tell the man she did not have any money or access to any.

Eventually, the man gave up and had the nun drop him off on Madison's south side. She then drove to the Catholic school where she works and called police.

"It was a very traumatic experience for sister, and we're grateful she is just fine and we're grateful that the person has been apprehended," said Monsignor Thomas Baxter, pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where the nun is director of religious education. "She was extraordinary this morning."

Police arrested the 41-year-old Madison man later Tuesday on a probation violation and tentative charges of kidnapping, burglary, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has not yet been formally charged.

Final: Terrorists Win

2007-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Soldier who paid to be shot not indicted
August 15, 2007

NEW YORK --A soldier who admitted paying someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid another tour of duty in Iraq won't face felony charges, though his wife and the gunman were indicted by a grand jury.

"I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst," said Army Pvt. Jonathan Aponte, 21. "I went into the grand jury and told the truth, and I think they had sympathy for me."

Melvin Hernandez, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's Office, said Wednesday that he could not comment on the grand jury decision.

Aponte was shot July 9, the day he was scheduled to return to duty. He first claimed he was shot by a robber but then changed his story under police questioning.

He told the officers he had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he wouldn't have to return to Iraq and his wife apparently took him seriously: She said she knew someone who could do the job.

In an interview after his arrest, Aponte said his legal troubles were better than being shot at every day in Iraq. "Mentally I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it anymore," he said then. His attorney has said Aponte has post-traumatic stress disorder.

Aponte still faces misdemeanor charges, including false reporting, that could send him to jail for up to a year, and the Army could seek disciplinary action against him. His wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, 22, was indicted on felony assault charges, along with the gunman.

Aponte, who returned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he is on medical leave, declined to comment on the charges against his wife.

His attorney, Marty Goldberg, said the grand jury appeared to have a sympathetic side. "It would have been unduly harsh to indict him considering what he has already been through," he said.

Yippie-Ki-Yay Motherfucker

2007-08-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Alleged thieves wave at camera
Quan Truong, Cincinnati Enquirer

SYCAMORE TWP. – A wave and the finger.
That’s how two teen boys greeted surveillance cameras at All Saints School when they broke in and stole four laptop computers last month, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
The boys were all smiles when they entered the school, at 8939 Montgomery Road on July 19.

Cameras caught them going into the science lab, where they put four Toshiba laptop computers – valued at $4,778.96 – into a box and walked out. Both are now wanted.

Anyone with information on the teens should call Hamilton County Sheriff’s Detective Brian Stapleton at 513-851-6000 or remain anonymous and possibly get a reward by calling Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.

Optimism

2007-08-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Search for missing scout
Kimball Perry, Cincinnati Enquirer

Gerry Beard looks at the pencil marks on the door jamb and gives a small smile, remembering the line dated July 23, 2004.

That’s the date her oldest child, 15-year-old Tony Beard, became taller than his 5-foot-3 mom.
Now, her 5-foot-9, 145-pound son can’t be found, having gone missing Sunday afternoon while on his way to a Boy Scout meeting.

“I think he’s a runaway,” Gerry Beard said from her Westwood home.

She and her husband, also named Tony, their family, friends and the neighborhood have been hunting for the 15-year-old, making more than 2,000 posters, calling police and following up on possible sightings.

Foul play isn’t suspected.Instead, the parents question why the teen, who has had so much success in the past, probably is hiding in nearby woods in Mount Airy Forest.

“I am hopeful that he only needed time to think,” the mom said. “He can be very heavy at times, things weigh on him.”

The teen has been missing since about 1 p.m. Sunday when his parents talked to him as he left their house on his way to a scout meeting, wearing a scout T-shirt.

The father, also active in the Boy Scouts, said several scout troops are massing later today at Mount Airy Forest – where local scouts have camped out before on retreats – to do a sweep in the hope of finding the teen.

“This is kind of the ultimate,” the father said, “to walk away with no word.” The teen left his personal items home – his zip drive, his camping gear, his broken cell phone, most of his money and the vitamins the mom just bought the workout buff teen.

Police showed up at the Beard house at about 1 p.m. today, talked to the father, looked at the teen’s room and then took the teen’s computer with them, hoping to find clues as to why he left.

The teen was to start attending a new school Tuesday, transferring from Covington Latin to Walnut Hills High where he would be a senior at age 15. It was the teen’s choice to change schools, the parents said.“It frustrates him that he can’t be free,” the mom said. “He doesn’t want to tell us where he’s going.”

The Beards are mystified why he would run away – if that is what’s happened – but note he would be going away to college next year and have lots of freedom.

In addition to starting a new school, the teen set up a Tuesday job interview at the Gamble- Nippert YMCA on Montana Avenue but missed it. He also hasn’t contacted his best friend or new girlfriend.

There have been several unconfirmed sightings since Monday, most in the general area of their home. But the mom is convinced one sighting was accurate. The person she talked to mentioned something about her son that hasn’t been mentioned in the media yet.

“We’ll just be so glad to see him,” his father said.

It's Meth

2007-08-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Bug bites still have officials scratching their heads
James Janega, Chicago Tribune
12:51 PM CDT, August 15, 2007

After a second night of setting out sticky traps for the mystery bug behind all the bites in northern Illinois, state public health officials had yet to announce a positive identification this morning. But attention centered on a tiny mite that plagued Kansas and Nebraska in 2004—the oak leaf gall mite, Pyemotes herfsi, an invasive species and close relative of the European straw itch mite.

Though state health officials were circumspect about naming the suspect, emergency room doctors have been downloading and printing the Kansas studies for days, and articles about the mites are hot on Internet search engines. State officials have been consulting with experts in Kansas and Nebraska.

Much of what is known about the oak leaf gall mite has been learned from those Midwestern studies in the last few years. The mite is known to eat the larvae of a particular kind of midge, said Field Museum entomologist Daniel Summers. But it also finds immature members of the Homoptera family to be delectable, he said.

That family includes the periodic cicadas, the noisy bugs that flooded the Chicago area to mate earlier in the summer. The next generation of nymphs are emerging now, presenting an irresistible food source to any Pyemotes mite looking for something to eat. "They're hatching out right now in the forest preserves by the countless zillions," Summers said. "It would be an endless feast for them. That would be my best guess right now."

Guesswork remained the order of the day for residents from Wooster Lake near the Wisconsin border down to Champaign and from Aurora east to Crown Point, Ind. "Right now, we haven't determined the exact culprit," said Cook County Public Health Department spokeswoman Kitty Loewy. "I think that the type of mite is important to learn, but I don't think it's going to change the message."

The message is to wear long clothing, launder clothing often and shower after being outdoors near foliage, which would remove any mites before they begin munching at human skin in search of nonexistent larvae. Something as simple as sunscreen may foil the mites' exploratory nibbling, Loewy said. If bitten, treat with hydrocortisone cream and antihistamine.

Don't scratch, officials say—you'll only infect the bites. Experts also warn that if redness from the wounds grows larger than a quarter or if streaks of red reach from the bite sites toward the chest, call a doctor or visit an emergency room; those may be signs of secondary infection from scratching.

Smells Like Victory

2007-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Man held for tossing liquid into Mystic aquarium whale tank
August 15, 2007

MYSTIC, Conn. --A Rhode Island man has been taken into custody at the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration after throwing liquid into a whale tank.

An aquarium spokesman says the unidentified East Providence man threw a mixture of a substance used for soldering and baking soda into the 750,000-gallon tank.

The whales were not hurt and tests have determined that the water is fine.

Staff saw the man throwing the liquid into the tank and approached him. Gray says he was babbling incoherently about Agent Orange.

Idolized His Mother

2007-08-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

Suspect in deputy's shooting idolized his mother
Tampa Bay Times

Michael Phillips' grandmother was married to a police detective.

The detective, Richard Rockburn, says he last saw Michael Phillips at a family Christmas gathering two years ago.

"It was the holiday season. He was happy," recalled Rockburn, the stepfather of Phillips' mother, Regina Vanamburg. Rockburn dropped in that day to say hello to about 30 family members. "Michael gave me a big hug when I saw him," he said.

Phillips died early Wednesday morning when he was shot by SWAT team members in his mother's home. He was the suspect in the fatal shooting of a sheriff's Sgt. Ron Harrison, a veteran DUI supervisor.

Rockburn, a police detective in Deland, said Vanamburg's family members headed to Brandon today from Tennessee and Deland to support the grieving mother.

"It's going to be hard for her to live there," Rockburn said. "If something tragic happened in my house I probably wouldn’t want to live here. Too many memories. It would never go away."
Rockburn said Phillips was the eldest of Vanamburg's four children.

"She's real close to all of them. She doesn't favor anybody. Gina's a real good mother," he said.
And Phillips, he said, idolized his mother.

Phillips has a long history of arrests, but Rockburn declined to talk about them or speculate on what might have happened Wednesday morning.

"Being a cop for over 20 years, I've worked a lot of cases," he said. "People have motivations for what they do, be it right or wrong."

Phillips was set to go to trial in September on felony charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief.

Sheriff’s deputies accused him of attacking a man and a truck in October 2006 with a rake in Riverview. An arrest report said Phillips stuck the man with the rake, cutting his back. He then used the rake to hit another man’s truck, causing $3,300 worth of damage, the report said.

Because Phillips was a prison release reoffender, prosecutors alerted the court in June that they planned to seek an enhanced sentence against him.

In 2006, Phillips was arrested three times for battery. In one case, he was accused of tampering with a witness, but the charges were dropped when the victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution.

In a misdemeanor case, he was accused of hitting two people in their heads and faces. County Judge Margaret Courtney found Phillips guilty of the batteries and sentenced him to six months of probation.

He ended up violating the probation and served time in jail, records show.

Phillips also was set for trial in September on charges that he fled from deputies and drove recklessly on a suspended license in September 2006.

Black Man Wanted to Fight

2007-08-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Roadside stabbing of girl probed
Cindy Stauffer, Lancaster New Era
Aug 15, 2007 11:17 AM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - A man allegedly stabbed a 15-year-old girl in the leg at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, as she and a friend were walking along the heavily traveled Lititz Pike in Manheim Township.

The girl, from Lancaster, and a 17-year-old boy, from East Hempfield Township, were walking to a friend's house when they told police a black man confronted them and wanted to fight.

The confrontation allegedly took place along the busy road, in the area of the Lancashire Hall nursing home, just after rush hour."

In an endeavor to avoid the fight, the girl was stabbed in the leg," said Manheim Township Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Rudzinski.

The girl was treated and released at a local hospital.

"At this point we don't know if this was random or if there was some connection between the teens and the man, if they possibly knew him," Rudzinski said.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the stabbing, or has information about it, is asked to call the department at 569-6401.

Army Robots

2007-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

From Der Spiegel

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,24001,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,grossbild-943536-500140,00.html

Buttock Exposed; Federal Prison

2007-08-15T09:54:00.001-07:00

Unruly Southwest Airlines passenger charged
08/14/2007 05:35:26 PM MDT
Felisa Cardona, Denver Post

A Southwest Airlines passenger accused of being drunk, trying to choke another passenger and yelling at the plane's crew was charged today with interfering with flight attendants in U.S. District Court.

Andy Lee Osuna, 29, was on a flight from Chicago to Las Vegas on Friday and was arrested after the flight was diverted to Denver in response to the commotion.

The cabin crew, along with other passengers, had to restrain Osuna with a pair of "flex cuffs" after he pushed a flight attendant, according to an arrest affidavit written by FBI Agent Joel Nishida.

Osuna made some crude remarks to a young female passenger seated near him, prompting a male passenger to ask him to be quiet, the affidavit says. Osuna then grabbed the man's collar and wouldn't let go until a flight attendant forced his hands off, the record says.

Another flight attendant told the FBI that said she served Osuna two sets of two rum and Coke drinks and then cut him off when he asked for another set.

She said while she was helping to get the flex cuffs on, Osuna tried to touch her inappropriately, the affidavit says.

Another flight attendant had to pull up Osuna's pants while Osuna was restrained because his pants and underwear were down, exposing a buttock, the affidavit says.

"Osuna admitted he has a drinking problem," the FBI agent wrote in his report. "Osuna denied making crude sexual remarks to the young adult female passenger, grabbing another passenger by the shirt collar and yelling profanities. He said it was possible that he tried to touch a flight attendant's chest or leg."

If convicted of the charge, Osuna faces 20 years in federal prison.

Wrapped His Head In Duct Tape

2007-08-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Police: Ky. man wraps head in duct tape for robbery

August 15, 2007
Associated Press

Ashland Police Dept. Police say Kasey G. Kazee, 24, had his head wrapped in duct tape when he tried to rob Shamrock Liquors Friday.

ASHLAND, Ky. - A man accused of being the "Duct Tape Bandit" has gotten into a sticky situation.

The man, who had his head wrapped in duct tape to conceal his identity, walked into a liquor store on Friday, Ashland police said.

Shamrock Liquors store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing, according to a report by WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va.

Store employee Craig Miller said he chased the man to the parking lot, tackled him and held him in a choke hold until police arrived. A customer also helped, police said.

Kasey G. Kazee, 24, of Ashland, was charged with first-degree robbery, according to Ashland Police Sgt. Mark McDowell.

Kazee, in an interview with the TV station, denied he was the bandit who robbed the store of two rolls of change. He pleaded not guilty Monday and bond was set at $250,000.

Judge Chose Desperate Irrationality

2007-08-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Judge in $54M pants suit will file an appeal
Aug 15, 2007 8:11 AM
Scott McCabe, DC Examiner

WASHINGTON - It looks like the pants suit still has legs. Roy Pearson, the administrative law judge who lost his $54 million lawsuit centered on a pair of lost trousers, filed a notice on Wednesday to appeal a D.C. Circuit judge’s verdict against him, meaning the legal battle could drag on for at least a few more months.

Pearson’s filing also rejects a peace offering by the dry cleaners, who on Monday filed a motion dropping their demand for $80,000 to pay for their attorney fees. Custom Cleaners owners Jin Nam Chung and Soo Chung said they hoped Pearson would follow suit and drop his appeal. They said they just want to return to their normal lives.

The D.C. Court of Appeals will set a brief hearing in the next few months for the parties to argue their positions.

The Chungs’ attorney, Christopher Manning, said the couple was baffled by Pearson’s appeal.

“Mr. Pearson, unfortunately, chose desperate irrationality over common sense,” Manning said, “unnecessarily costing the parties more wasted time and the D.C. taxpayers more wasted money.”

It’s not the first time Pearson has rejected the Chungs. Shortly before trial, he rejected their offer of $12,000 for the pair of pants. Pearson instead pursued the trial, where he claimed the case was the worst case of fraud “in recorded history.”

After the two-day trial, Superior Court Judge Judith Barnoff found that Pearson never proved that the dry cleaners violated the spirit of their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign.

Now, Pearson could lose his job on the bench of the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings. A commission last week told Pearson his $100,000 job on the bench is in jeopardy.

Stab Mommy

2007-08-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Guilty plea in slashing of wife
August 15, 2007
Connecticut Post

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. --A man accused of slashing his wife then telling his toddler son to "stab Mommy," has pleaded guilty to assault and other charges.

Fermin Rodriguez, 21, pleaded guilty Monday before Superior Court Judge Richard Comerford to charges stemming from an attack on his wife on March 4.

Police say that Rodriguez and his 17-year-old wife, Keyschla Rodriguez, began arguing in their home when he accused her of being unfaithful.

As the fight escalated, Fermin Rodriguez picked up a kitchen knife and began slashing and stabbing his wife, police said.

As the woman lay on the floor bleeding from her wounds, police said, Rodriguez handed the knife to his 2-year-old son telling him, "Now you stab Mommy."

The boy did not comply and Keyschla Rodriguez was taken to the hospital by her father.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault, second-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Cornelius Kelly said he will recommend Rodriguez serve a 12-year prison term when he is sentenced Oct. 26.