The Blotter
Man accused of kicking 2-year-old in face
By David C. Doolittle | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 04:05 PM
luna.jpg
An Austin man has been arrested and charged with injury to a child after police say he kicked his 2-year-old daughter in the face and bit her, according to an arrest affidavit.
According to the affidavit, Ricardo Luna, 23, was arguing with the girls mother in her apartment at 1601 Montopolis Drive about 5 a.m. May 17 when he bit the girls cheek. The woman told officers that Luna later kicked the girl in the face while she was sitting on the floor crying, the affidavit said.
Luna was arrested May 28 on charges of assault causing bodily injury to a family member in connection with injuries the mother received, said Will Pursley, a detective with the Austin Police Department. He was charged with injury to a child Tuesday, Pursley said. He also has been charged with making a terroristic threat, court records show. He is in the Travis County Jail on $200,000 bail, records show.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Rockdale man sentenced to 10 years for child pornography
By From staff reports | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 04:01 PM
FROM THE U.S. ATTORNEYS OFFICE
John E. Murphy, Acting United States Attorney, announced that Frank Sanchez, Jr., of Rockdale, Texas, was sentenced this afternoon to ten years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.
In addition to the prison term, Chief United States District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr., ordered that Sanchez pay a $1,000 fine and be placed under supervised release for eight years after completing his prison term. On April 30, 2009, Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
According to court records, over several weeks beginning in March 2008, Sanchez was involved in internet chat conversations with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl, but in reality was an undercover law enforcement officer.
On October 14, 2008, authorities executed a search warrant at the defendants residence and seized his personal computer and related media. A subsequent forensic examination revealed the presence of over 7,400 images and more than 80 videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
This case was investigated by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Texas Attorney Generals office. Assistant United States Attorney Greg Gloff prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: News
Austin construction worker killed in Louisiana accident, officials say
By Claire Osborn | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 03:30 PM
An Austin construction worker who was killed in a construction accident on a bridge near New Orleans has been identified this week as 26-year-old Martin Reyes Osuno.
Osuno died Friday after falling 75 to 80 feet to the ground from the Huey P. Long Bridge over the Mississippi River, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office.
A 33-year-old worker from Louisiana also died when the steel rebar cage the men were working on gave way, the sheriffs office said.
Osunos last known address was Austin, but his relatives live in Mexico, according to the Jefferson Parish coroners office. The coroners office declined to release information about where the relatives lived in Mexico.
Crews have been working to expand the 74-year-old bridge, New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Fatal accidents
Police: Use 911 only for emergency calls
By From staff reports | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 12:38 PM
In light of a call to 911 complaining about live music at Shady Grove on Thursday, we asked police whether people should use 911 or 311 to make such a complaint.
We ask that people use 311 for non-emergency situations, police spokeswoman Veneza Aguiñaga said.
However, If a 311 call rises to a level that it requires an officers response, it will be forwarded to 911 or police dispatch so that officers can respond appropriately, she said.
She said that if people abuse 911, they could be investigated.
We set up 311 so we dont tie up 911, she said.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Body found near North Lamar not investigated as homicide, police say
By From staff reports | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 12:32 PM
Police are not investigating the death of a man behind a mattress store in the 8400 block of North Lamar Boulevard as a homicide, police spokeswoman Veneza Aguiñaga said.
She did not have any more information.
The mans body was discovered after a 911 call was made from an area payphone around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The mans name has not been released.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
21-year-old killed in fiery Llano County crash
By David C. Doolittle | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 11:57 AM
jaffers.jpg
A 21-year-old Temple man was killed in a fiery car wreck Sunday night off Texas 71 in Llano County following a police chase, officials said.
Gregory Neil Jaffers died when his car left the roadway, rolled several times and caught fire, police said.
A Llano police officer attempted to pull over Jaffers gold 2002 Toyota Avalon about 10 p.m. after it was clocked going 101 mph on Texas 71 through town, Llano Police Chief James Schilling said.
A short chase pursued that ended when the officer lost sight of the Avalon past the city limits, Schilling said.
A Llano County sheriffs deputy spotted the car on fire with Jaffers in it in a low area off the side of the road, Schilling said. Jaffers was the only person in the car, and there were no other injuries during the chase, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Jaffers was wearing a seat belt, said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is handling the investigation.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Fatal wreck
Charges filed against men involved in fatal crash
By Isadora Vail | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 11:35 AM
Austin police have filed charges against two men who were in a car that crashed in Northeast Austin last week as police say it fled the scene of a theft, killing the driver, according to an arrest affidavit.
On June 11, police responded to a call of tires being stolen off a car at a home on Gaelic Drive around 4:20 a.m. and saw a car that matched a suspect description leaving the scene, the affidavit said.
The affidavit says Walter Hernandez, 17, and Marco Vasquez-Rojas, 20, were passengers in the car, which was driven by Luis Fernando Ramirez, 28. Ramirez died after crashing into a tree at a high rate of speed on Harris Branch Parkway, police said. The tires that were reported missing were found in the car, the document says.
Rojas and Hernandez were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge. The two face felony charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and face up to two years in a state jail if they are convicted.
It was unclear Wednesday if the two had been arrested. Both have bail set at $5,000.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Police: man lured from club by women, robbed at knifepoint
By Isadora Vail | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 11:22 AM
Austin police are searching for two women and three men who robbed a man at gunpoint, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police said Victoria Garcia, 23, and Angelica Ramirez, 28, were at Club Carnaval at 2237 E. Riverside Drive last month where they met the victim, who police did not name.
Ramirez told the victim that Garcia wanted to have sex with him and they all left the club together around midnight on May 23 and went to a residence on Weathers Lane, the affidavit said. Garcia took the victim into a room, where three masked men carrying guns and knives entered, according to the affidavit.
One of the men put a knife to the victims neck, asked for money, and tied his feet and hands together. The men took the victims wallet, car keys and and telephone and fled in his car, the affidavit says.
Garcia came into the room and cut him free, according to the affidavit.
Garcia and Ramirez have been charged with felony aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, which carries a maximum of life in prison if convicted. Police said the women are not in custody and bail has been set at $20,000.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Police investigating body found behind mattress store
By Patrick George | Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 10:03 PM
Austin police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found behind a mattress store at the 8400 block of North Lamar Boulevard.
The mans body was discovered after a 911 call was made from an area payphone around 7:30 p.m.
Officials said the man, whose name was not released. may have been a homeless person who fell from a retaining wall near the store.
More details to come.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Man sought after argument in river
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 08:08 PM
Police are searching for a man who was involved in an argument Tuesday night with a woman while they were standing in the Colorado River near the Montopolis Bridge in Southeast Austin. The woman was not injured, police said.
Police initially received a call at 6:04 p.m. that a man was choking a woman and dunking her head under water, said Lt. Wayne Demoss. When an officer arrived, he saw a woman in waist-deep water who was agitated and who began yelling at him, said police Cmdr. John Hutto.
The current began to take the woman downstream, and officer David Easley became concerned for her safety, Hutto said. Easley pulled a life vest from his patrol car, Hutto said, and put it on the woman. The officer floated downstream with the woman for about 300 yards before he found a safe place to pull her out of the water.
A police helicopter also followed them downstream, and the Austin Fire Department had two boats readied for a rescue.
The man, 31-year-old Saul Mendoza, has not been found, officials said.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink |
Day care director says parent hit teacher
By Isadora Vail | Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 01:38 PM
Austin police said they are investigating a report of a physical assault by a parent on a teacher at a Southeast Austin day care center Monday.
Patricia Smith, director of the Little Dudes Learning Centers, said a parent attacked a teacher at the center on 4905 Maufrais Lane about 5:30 p.m.
Smith said the father walked into the day care and hit a pre-K teacher once over the head before calling him derogatory names. She said the teacher ran toward another classroom and the father chased him, in front of other children and parents.
The police were called, Smith said, but no arrest was made.
Police spokesman Richard Stresing said the man was not arrested because the assault did not occur in front of an officer, and those involved gave conflicting stories about what happened.
The case is being investigated by detectives, Stresing said, who will issue an arrest warrant if they determine an assault has taken place.
This was very disturbing and I need to find someone who can help take care of my teachers because we have experienced a very traumatic situation. I dont want to lose my staff, Smith said. I fee like this has been minimalized by police.
She said the teacher who was struck had been at the center for two years, and had no prior complaints about him.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the center had been investigated for minor inspection violations within the past two years. Van Deusen said the office received a report Monday from the center that a child had told his father that one of the teachers had hit him.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink | Categories: Police
Colorado man sought in pharmacy robbery
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 12:43 PM
Austin police are looking for a man who they say robbed a CVS Pharmacy at 3569 Far West Blvd. about 3:15 a.m. Thursday, according to an affidavit.
The man entered the store and threatened the cashier with a knife and asked the cashier for money, the document said. The cashier gave him money from the cash register and then the man left the store, the document says.
Police say they reviewed security footage of that pharmacy robbery, as well as another robbery in Austin the next day, and saw that it was the same suspect.
Tommy Fox, 40, a Colorado resident, had previously been arrested on felony charges and had violated the terms of his parole, the document says. When Foxs parole officer saw the images, he identified the person involved in both robberies as Fox.
Fox has not been arrested, officials say, but he has been charged with aggravated robbery. Bail has been set at $100,000.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink |
Accused car robber nabbed
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 12:42 PM
Austin police have arrested and charged a man who they say took place in a car robbery that happened in April 2009 in an Austin apartment complex, according to an arrest affidavit.
At about 2:05 a.m. April 17, a man stopped to get gas at the Tigermart Gas Station at the corner of Ed Bluestein Boulevard and Loyola Lane and was approached by a man and a woman who asked him for a ride.
The man drove them to an apartment complex, located at the 1700 block of Patton Lane. When they arrived, the passengers began to beat the man and stole the car, according to the affidavit.
An ambulance took the man to Brackenridge Hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained in the alleged attack.
The vehicle, a Nissan Maxima, was involved in a collision eight hours after the robbery.
The document says witnesses saw the driver of the car leave the scene and run into a nearby gas station. Austin police apprehended the driver of the stolen vehicle, William Bell, 19, the document says.
Bell has been charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and is being held at the Travis County Jail, officials say. Bail is set at $75,000.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink |
Williamson County deputies investigating suspicious death
By Claire Osborn | Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 11:52 AM
The Williamson County Sheriffs Office is investigating the suspicious death of a man found near Ronald Reagan Boulevard about half a mile from Texas 29, sheriffs office spokesman John Foster said.
The man has not been identified, Foster said. Construction workers called 911 at 9:22 this morning after finding the body next to a red pickup in the corner of a field, Foster said. Investigators think the truck belonged to the man.
His body was badly decomposed, Foster said. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death, he said.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Permalink |
East Austin house fire quickly knocked down, official says
Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 11:48 AM
Austin fire crews have knocked down a fire in the 500 block of East 14 1/2 Street near Airport Boulevard that was first called in about 11:20 a.m., an official said.
The fire started in a shed on the property and spread to the house, the official said.
There were no reports of injuries, the official said.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.
Three women were seen stealing several clothing items Monday evening from a store in the 2900 block of Brentwood Drive. One of the women left her purse inside the store. When confronted, she left. Several stolen clothing items were found in the purse.
In an unrelated case the same day, three women reportedly stole items from a store in the 2100 block of Southwood Drive. Store personnel could not tell exactly what items may have been taken.
A television was stolen from a home in the 300 block of Homer Street.
Assault was reported by a woman who said her husband shoved her down early Tuesday and kicked her in the leg during a disturbance.
A former employee stole a paint sprayer from the 300 block of Howe Street and has refused to return it.
A cell phone left at a baseball field in Morris Frank Park was gone when the owner returned for it.
Some food items were stolen Monday from a house in the 900 block of Cottonbelt Street.
An employee stole several gift certificates from a grocery store in the 1200 block of West Frank Avenue and reportedly cashed them.
An electronic withdrawal was made from a woman's bank account without her permission.
A watch, two cameras and some personal papers were stolen Wednesday from a home in the 400 block of Locke Street.
A debit card was stolen and several unauthorized charges were made on it. And at least two unsuccessful attempts were made to use the card.
An employer in the 1000 block of Lufkin Avenue caught one of his employees trying to steal an iPod from a customer's car on Monday.
Cash was stolen Monday from a home burglarized in the 400 block of Montrose Street.
The Lufkin Police Department made 10 arrests late Monday and early Tuesday. Arrests and charges included: Andrea L. Johnson, 27, two class C warrants; Jessie Freeman, 54, criminal trespass; Lux Lopez Falcon, 37, three class C warrants; Johnnie Smith Jr., 25, four class C warrants; Joshua Clay Calloway, 24, failure to pay fines for running a stop sign, no driver's license, no insurance and possession of drug paraphernalia; Mark Anthony Brown, 39, three class C warrants; Kalvin Marcus Hall, 21, five class C warrants; Angela Richard, 37, two class C warrants; Calvin Dewayne Holmes, 50, parole violation for delivery of cocaine and failure to pay fines; and Christopher Wortham , 49, no insurance and no driver's license.
The Huntington Police Department made two arrests late Monday and early Tuesday. Arrests and charges included: William Christopher Gann, 24, assault on a public servant and criminal trespass; and Erik Hammack, 30, no seat belt, inspection violation, displaying expired driver's license and no insurance.
The Angelina County Pct. 1 Constable's Office made two arrests late Monday and early Tuesday. Arrests and charges included: Ja'Clayton Jamar Morris, 19, motion to revoke probation for possession; and Robyn Alamo King, 36, writ of appearance in Montgomery County.
The Angelina County Sheriff's Office made five arrests late Monday and early Tuesday. Arrests and charges included: Michael Kyle Kelley, 30 , motion to revoke probation for driving while intoxicated; Melanie L. Hartsfield, 38, motion to revoke probation for forgery and theft; Bonnie K. Garcia, 39, order of surrender; Brandon Garner, 23, judgment nisi for possession of marijuana; and Javosky Tyjuan Thomas, 26, failure to appear for driving while license invalid.
The Texas Department of Public Safety made two arrests late Monday and early Tuesday. Arrests and charges included: Raymond Mathew Burton, 24, driving while license invalid; and Jermaine James Wyatt, 28, driving while license invalid.
The Angelina County Jail housed 266 inmates as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
the only fun thing about it is looking for names of people ya know in the arrest part...occasionally I find one...usually kids bugs jr went to school with or customers...
you can go to the jail's web site and see who was booked in the last 24 hrs.They give their mug shot,amount of bail,and eveything.Amazing who gets DUI's and domestic violence around these parts...
I live in Harker Heights, about 60 miles north of Austin,next to Killeen and Fort Hood.But we have all lots here too, plus other nationally.Our holiday parade looks like a Korean new year.
Killeen school allowing service dog to attend classes with student
by BDB
> 2009 > June > 17 >
Killeen school allowing service dog to attend classes with student
By Juana Summers | Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 01:21 PM
Harker Heights High School is allowing a 14-year-old students service dog to attend summer classes with the girl, although the Killeen school district originally said the Rottweiler could not come on campus.
Heather Jones has been using Della, a 4-year-old Rottweiler, since she was hospitalized with multiple seizures May 20 during class at Eastern Hills Middle School, where she just finished eighth grade, said a spokesman for the office of Dan Corbin, the familys attorney.
Heather spent two days in a critical care unit, the spokesman said.
While Heather was hospitalized, Della slept next to her and was able to alert medical staff when she was close to having a seizure. After Heather was released, the family began to use Della as a full-time service dog, the spokesman said.
The Jones attorney said the school wouldnt let Della accompany Heather to school.
A written statement from the Killeen Independent School District said that students are allowed to use service dogs in the school district but that it sometimes takes a few days to complete all the steps associated with associating a service dog into the classroom.
In Heathers case, that took more than three weeks, the family said.
Shes now enrolled in summer school, and Harker Heights High Principal Ralph Bray has allowed Della to come to class, Corbin said.
But this is just the beginning of Heather and Dellas fight, said Heathers mother, Andrea Jones.
The family is planning to file a lawsuit against the school district, hoping to help change service dog policies at Killeen and and at other districts statewide.
A 14-year-old epileptic student is back in school following a nearly month long battle with the Killeen Independent School District.
Ninth-grader Heather Jones attended summer school classes at Harker Heights High School on Tuesday alongside her certified service dog, Della.
Until Tuesday, the 4-year-old Rottweiler who senses when Heather will have a seizure was banned from accompanying the ninth-grader to class.
It was a significant victory for Heather and her family, but Heather insists this is just the beginning of their fight.
Her family, represented by attorney Dan Corbin, plans to file a lawsuit against the district for what they claim was a violation of her civil rights. They hope the civil suit will persuade the KISD school board to develop a policy that specifically allows the use of certified service dogs in its schools.
"What we're going through, nobody should have to go through. It's just wrong,"
Heather said after a media conference at Corbin's office Tuesday.
"I hope to develop a policy so nobody should have to go through this."
KISD spokeswoman Leslie Gilmore said the district does not have a board-adopted policy in regard to service animals, but does have written administrative procedures.
"While it sometimes takes a few days to complete all the steps associated with introducing a service dog into a classroom, the district clearly allows the use of service dogs within the schools when it is appropriate," according to a KISD statement released Tuesday.
Before the dog is allowed in school, district officials must receive documentation that the dog is trained and certified, receive certification from a licensed veterinarian that the dog is in good health, ensure that the school staff is properly trained to handle the dog and determine whether accommodations need to be made for other students with allergies, the statement said.
Heather's problems with the district began when, on Wednesday May 20, she had multiple seizures during class at Eastern Hills Middle School. Until then, Heather had not suffered a seizure in four years.
Heather spent two days in the critical care unit at King's Daughters Hospital in Temple, and a family friend brought Della to visit Heather in the hospital.
Heather had shown the dog at American Kennel Club events in the past. It was there that Heather and Della's bond grew. During her time at King's Daughters, Della alerted hospital staff whenever Heather was about to have a seizure.
"Della has saved my daughter's life three different times," said Andrea Jones, Heather's mother. "If it wasn't for Della, we wouldn't have known my daughter was going to have a seizure and she could've died. Della's a hero."
Once Heather was released from the hospital, Jones said she informed administrators at Eastern Hills that Heather would return to school with Della as her service dog. To her surprise, KISD officials refused to allow the dog on campus, she said.
As a result, Heather who would not attend school without the dog did not return to school to complete her eighth-grade year. She could not participate in cheerleading practice, her graduation ceremony or her graduation dance.
Heather was still promoted to ninth grade despite her absence.
A hearing was held on Thursday, June 4 with Heather's family and KISD officials regarding Della's status as a service dog. On June 12, KISD acknowledged Della as a service dog.
But when Heather's first day of summer school came, KISD officials forbade Della from entering the building.
Corbin said the district's refusal to allow the dog on campus is a violation of the Texas Human Resources Code, Section 121, which states, "No person with a disability may be denied the use of a white cane, assistance animal, wheelchair, crutches, or other device of assistance."
When asked why Della could not accompany Heather on her first day of summer school, Gilmore said it sometimes takes a few days to complete the steps necessary to introduce the dog into a classroom.
She said a letter was sent home on Monday informing parents that a service dog would be assisting one of the students.
Gilmore could not say whether the school board would consider developing a policy about service dogs.
For now, Heather is happy her four-legged friend is permited to go to school with her.
"Everybody ignored her, like she wasn't even there," she said, talking about her first day of class. "She slept under my desk except when we had a break."
Robin Wheeler, the co-owner of Sit Means Sit dog training company in Belton and Della's previous owner, said she is currently working with another family whose autistic son uses a certified service dog.
"The child is too young to be at school right now, but that is something that is coming, and he has autism. His mother is fighting that fight as well," Wheeler said.
Corbin said his main goal is to prevent a similar situation from happening again.
"She and her mom have gone through a lot of frustration. It's been a very traumatic time for the family," Corbin said of his clients. "I hope this serves as an incentive for the development of a district policy so no one else goes through this."
Contact Rebecca LaFlure at rlaflure@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7548.
Email ArticleEmail Article Print ArticlePrint Article
I know him he was my biology teacher in highschool..really cool teacher!! I know that has nothing to do with the story but hey you know how it is when you see a familiar name in a article
Man hides in LA drain for 12 hours to avoid arrest
by bugs
Man hides in LA drain for 12 hours to avoid arrest
Email this Story
Jun 17, 4:53 AM (ET)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A burglary suspect who tried to evade police by hiding in a narrow storm drain under a busy freeway for 12 hours finally agreed to give himself up after speaking to a local TV reporter on his cell phone.
The man resisted multiple applications of tear gas, a police dog, negotiators, an improvised plunger and a professional urban search-and-rescue firefighter, authorities said. But police and fire officials credit KABC-TV reporter Leo Stallworth with opening the communication that led to the man's safe surrender Tuesday.
The suspect crawled into the storm drain - 18 inches wide by 80 feet long - and wedged himself inside after officers found him and another man allegedly attempting to steal copper wire from a San Fernando Valley warehouse, Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said.
"We applied tear gas on more than one occasion," Moore said. "We stopped because we thought he'd suffocate to death. Just the way he resisted the tear gas was amazing."
The man's determination to stay put challenged the creativity of rescuers.
Firefighters fashioned a plunger with a heavy climbing rope, a large plywood disk and several canvas bags, fire spokesman Capt. Steve Ruda said. But when they threaded the rope through the pipe and started to pull, the suspect used a knife to cut the rope.
Just as firefighters were about to jerry-rig another plunger with a cable, the man called his girlfriend on his cell phone.
"He's 30 feet underground, and somehow he has cell coverage," Moore said. "The girlfriend calls the news media, and he gets on the phone with Channel 7."
KABC-TV later broadcast the audio of the conversation between the reporter and the suspect.
"The question is, why won't you come out?" Stallworth asked.
"'Cause I hate leaving my freedom," the man said from inside the pipe.
"You're in a storm drain. Is there any freedom in there?" Stallworth asked. "Your girlfriend wants you to come out. She's called the station. Your children want you to come out. At some point you're going to have to face the music."
Stallworth and police negotiators eventually talked the man into surrendering, Ruda said. The suspect emerged from the bottom of the hole dirty, shirtless and scratched. Police trained their guns on him until he gave up his knife, he said.
He was arrested on suspicion of burglary, Moore said.
MILWAUKEE (AP) - A window washer survived a six-story fall from a bank building with one thought in mind - when was his safety rope going to catch?
It never did.
"I kept falling," 21-year-old Alex Clay said in a phone interview Tuesday night from Luther Hospital in Eau Claire. "It all happened so fast. I kept waiting. When's it going to catch?
"There's a little roof over the entryway. I bounced off of that and then hit the pavement."
Authorities in Eau Claire, located in west-central Wisconsin about 70 miles east of Minneapolis-St. Paul, said equipment apparently helped break the man's fall from the U.S. Bank building just after 3 p.m. Tuesday.
But Clay said it didn't slow him down much.
Still, he said doctors determined his main injury was a shattered bone on the arch side of his left foot. He said he also had six staples in his leg because he cut it on something as he fell.
"I remember the entire fall all the way down," he said.
He said the problem developed when he noticed a clip on his gear for rappelling wasn't fastened.
"But I was trying not to panic because I had my safety line connected on the back of my harness," he said.
A maintenance man and his co-worker tried to pull him back up, but he was too sweaty and tired to make it, he said.
"I was hanging on for dear life at that time, even though I had the safety line on."
That's when he let go.
He said he had worked for Bob Smith Window Cleaning about four months, but he doesn't plan on working high buildings again for some time.
His mother, Susan Frederick, said she'll object if he tries.
"It's just so amazing - and then to find out that he's going to be OK is just so fantastic," she said from the hospital.
Iowa man wonders if mystery visitor is missing son
by bugs
By MELANIE S. WELTE, Associated Press Writer Melanie S. Welte,
Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 17, 4:32 am ET
NEWTON, Iowa When a mysterious visitor showed up last fall at Jerry Damman's Iowa farm, there wasn't any reason for him to suspect it was the toddler son who long ago vanished from a stroller in front of a New York bakery.
After all, five decades of silence have passed, each of them bringing no new leads about the fate of his blond 2-year-old boy, Stephen.
Damman's wife directed the man to a neighboring farm where her husband was working, but the man never showed up to speak with him. The couple dismissed the visit at the time. Damman now wonders if that visitor could have been his son, a grown man from Michigan who recently told the FBI that he was the missing child taken so many years ago.
"It's just one of those things, you know. Nothing's happened all those years," the 78-year-old Damman said Tuesday. "You don't figure it's going to now, but maybe it did."
The man's identity hasn't been released, but an official familiar with the investigation said he believes he never fit in with the family in which he grew up and began researching missing persons cases around the nation. That's how the man learned of the Damman case, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the claim was still under investigation.
Nassau County Police Lt. Kevin Smith said the case was referred to the FBI in Detroit and authorities are awaiting DNA results to determine if the man's claim is true.
"To a certain extent, this would probably close it," said Damman. "Just like a death gives you closure, you know sometimes, it will give you closure to know what happened."
Jerry Damman and his wife, Charlotte who is not Stephen Damman's mother said they've often thought back to the stranger's visit to their farm and his decision not to identify himself. The missing child's sister also got a visit from the same man, they said. "She looked at this guy, and he looked like Jerry," Charlotte Damman said.
Investigators learned that the Michigan man reached out to the woman he believed to be his sister, Smith said, and that the two conducted a private DNA test that found they could be related. The FBI is conducting its own tests, Smith said.
"He came all the way down from Michigan," Jerry Damman said. "I don't know if he was kind of timid about it. He probably was."
Damman said he has tried to call the man twice since a report of his claim was published Tuesday in the New York Daily News. Jerry and the missing child's mother divorced a few years after their son's kidnapping. His ex-wife could not be located to talk about the case.
Jerry Damman was working at Mitchell Air Force Base on Long Island when his son disappeared. His wife, Marilyn, left Stephen and 7-month-old daughter, Pamela, waiting outside a bakery while she went inside to shop on Oct. 31, 1955, according to Smith and news accounts from 1955.
"Back in that time, it was probably not that uncommon to do something like that," Smith said.
After 10 minutes, Marilyn came out of the bakery but could not find the stroller or her children, authorities said. The stroller, with only her daughter inside, was found around the corner from the market a short time later, authorities said.
More than 2,000 people searched for 28 hours without finding Stephen. The county's assistant chief inspector, Leslie W. Pearsall, called off the search, saying that the boy's disappearance had become "a case for detectives only," according to 1955 story in The New York Times.
The family received a ransom note in mid-November, according to an Associated Press account. Stephen's parents also made a public plea to the kidnappers at the time, saying Stephen suffered from anemia and asking that he receive medicine that included vitamins, aspirin and a tonic, the Times reported.
Today, the spot where Stephen was taken is a Waldbaum's supermarket at a busy strip-mall intersection. The report has stunned residents old enough to remember the futile search for the toddler.
Joan Bookbinder, 81, was a few years older than Damman's mother in 1955. She said it was common at that time to leave babies outside in their carriages while shopping.
"They would all be lined up outside the supermarket," Bookbinder said while standing outside the market. "We never worried. We never thought about it."
Everything changed after the toddler was kidnapped.
"We never left the carriages outside again," she said. "All I remember is the fear amongst the mothers."
___
Associated Press writers Frank Eltman and Amy Westfeldt in New York and Nigel Duara in Iowa and AP researcher Susan James contributed to this report.
KALKASKA, Mich. A Michigan man said Wednesday that pictures he found online led him to believe he could be the 2-year-old boy who vanished more than a half-century ago from a stroller outside a bakery on New York's Long Island.
John Robert Barnes told The Associated Press that he was doing online research within the past year to try to figure out who he really was, saying that from childhood he never felt as though he fit in with the family that raised him.
Barnes, who is in his 50s, saw pictures of the missing boy's mother when she was a young adult, thought the woman resembled himself at the same age and started to believe he might be Stephen Damman, who disappeared in 1955.
"I don't know if I'm related to the Dammans or the Barneses. I'm just waiting for the DNA results," Barnes said during an interview at his trailer home, located on a dirt road in Kalkaska, about 195 miles northwest of Detroit.
Police in New York's Nassau County have said a Michigan resident contacted their office in the past few months, saying he believes he is the missing toddler. The case was referred to the FBI. Barnes said the FBI took a sample of his DNA via a cheek swab and he's now "waiting for the FBI to tell me who I'm related to."
Stephen Damman's mother, Marilyn, left the boy and 7-month-old daughter, Pamela, waiting outside a bakery while she went inside to shop on Oct. 31, 1955, according to police and news accounts at the time. After 10 minutes, Marilyn came out of the bakery but could not find the stroller or her children, authorities said. The stroller, with only her daughter inside, was found around the corner from the market a short time later, authorities said.
The description of the child that vanished said the boy had blond hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. It also said the boy walked with his toes turned out, and that he had a small scar underneath his chin. Barnes has a faint line, less than an inch, that runs below his chin and slightly up the right side of his face.
Investigators learned that the Michigan man who approached New York authorities also reached out to the woman he believes may be his sister, said Nassau County Police Lt. Kevin Smith, and the two conducted a private DNA test in March that found they could be related. Barnes said he did reach out to a sister in Kansas City, Mo., and that the two have become close.
Sandra Berchtold, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, declined to comment the case Wednesday.
The father of the woman and the missing boy, Jerry Damman of Newton, Iowa, has said he's hopeful the man is his son. Damann divorced the boy's mother a few years after the kidnapping and now lives on a farm with his wife, Charlotte.
"After all those years, you kind of lost all hope," Damann said Tuesday.
Barnes said he traveled to Iowa last year to see the man he believed was his biological father, but they never spoke. Damman's wife said that a man came to her door last fall and asked for Damann, and she gave him directions to another farm where he was working, but the two didn't connect.
"I didn't want to, you know, say, 'Well, I'm your long lost son,'" Barnes said. "I just wanted to get a look at the guy."
Barnes said he doubts he will establish ties with the family if the DNA test indicates he is the missing child, although he'd like to meet Jerry Damman.
"I'm really glad that I'm finally finding all of this out, finding out who I'm related to. Because I didn't want to get old and die and not know. I was convinced that I was not one of the Barnes.
"You just know things like that."
___
Associated Press writers Frank Eltman and Amy Westfeldt in New York, Nigel Duara and Melanie S. Welte in Iowa and The AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.
Woman suspected in 3 holdups within 35 minutes
Jun 16, 8:59 PM (ET)
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Ohio authorities said they believe a woman held up three banks within just over a half-hour. Akron Police Lt. Rick Edwards said based on the surveillance photos, it appears to be the same woman. Police said the first bank was hit at about 3:15 p.m. Monday, the second about a mile away at 3:30, and the third about three blocks farther at 3:50.
Investigators also think the same woman robbed yet another Akron bank on Friday and got an undisclosed amount of money.
FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said the suspect hurried from Monday's first two banks without any money, possibly because she got scared. He said cash was taken in the day's third holdup, though he didn't say how much.
Police said in each case the suspect showed no weapon but handed the teller a note.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Police in Poland say an 8-year-old boy saved his sister and three drunk adults from a fire by calling police and fighting the flames before help arrived. The fire started outside the door of the boy's apartment in the western town of Miedzyrzecz late Monday.
Police said Tuesday that the boy was unable to wake up his mother or two men - all of whom were intoxicated - so called the emergency number himself.
He helped his 5-year-old sister get dressed and repeatedly poured water on the burning door as he waited for help.
Police spokesman Artur Chorazy said: "If it wasn't for him, there might have been a tragedy."
Police are investigating the cause of the fire. They say they are considering whether to charge the 26-year-old mother with endangering her children.
Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing, Selling Hurricane Rita Trailer
by BDB
Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing, Selling Hurricane Rita Trailer
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
BEAUMONT, Texas A Texas woman who stole a Hurricane Rita travel trailer and resold it has pleaded guilty to theft of government property.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Beaumont on Tuesday announced the plea by 44-year-old Shelley Jerie Dewitt of Vidor.
Dewitt faces up to 10 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
Rita hit southeast Texas and Louisiana in September 2005.
Dewitt in 2007 pretended to be a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor removing FEMA trailers that were no longer needed. Those trailers were used as housing following Rita.
Investigators said Dewitt took an $11,000 travel trailer from an RV park in Silsbee and sold it to an unsuspecting buyer. The trailer was recovered.
Calif.: Video of octuplets broke child-labor laws
Email this Story
Jun 17, 1:54 AM (ET)
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
(AP) In this March 11, 2009 file photo, Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets, leaves her home...
Full Image
Google sponsored links
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Web site's exclusive deal to document the lives of Nadya Suleman and her fragile octuplets came with a hidden risk: State regulators charged Tuesday that two of the newborns were endangered by long hours and inadequate supervision while under the relentless eye of a video camera. The four citations against celebrity hunter RadarOnline came as the latest in a series of questions about the care and treatment of the octuplets born to a single, jobless mother who had lived on government disability payments for years.
"These babies were put at risk and exposed to conditions that violated California labor laws," state Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet said about the ongoing investigation. "In this case, we are dealing with premature babies."
The violations deal with a single day, March 17, and two of the newborns, Noah and Isaiah Suleman, who were the first of the octuplets to be brought home from a hospital to the Los Angeles suburb of La Habra.
RadarOnline, which had a secret deal to chronicle the mother of 14 and her newest babies over seven weeks, was cited for failing to get required state permits, videotaping the infants at hours and for periods of time banned by regulation, and for failing to provide a monitor to watch over them during taping sessions.
(AP) Attorney Gloria Allred speaks at a news conference Tuesday June 16, 2009 in Los Angeles, where she...
Full Image
The Web site said in an online posting it was conducting a newsgathering operation and was not required to obtain permits or restrict its operation to certain hours.
The statement did not address payments to Suleman outlined in its contract with her.
But regulators concluded the deal went far beyond incidental news coverage. Bradstreet said the deal "was a ... whole production that was controlled, and has been controlled, by RadarOnline."
RadarOnline can contest the citations, which name only the Web site and carry possible penalties totaling as much as $3,000. Calls to Suleman's lawyer, Jeff Czech, were not immediately returned.
Suleman, a divorced mother, gave birth to the octuplets nine weeks premature on Jan. 26. She already had six children, ages 2 to 7.
The births set off media frenzy that quickly turned to public scorn with revelations that Suleman was not working and had conceived all her children through in vitro fertilization.
The Web site deal transformed Suleman's life into chaotic spectacle. RadarOnline has posted more than 100 items about Suleman and her octuplets, many of which include video.
The footage ranges widely, from her squabbles with her mother, to a trip to Disneyland with her daughter in tow, to her vow of celibacy and other details of her personal life.
She has worked her way through a series of public relations handlers and provided antic theater on the "Dr. Phil" McGraw show, which staged a baby shower for her.
McGraw mediated a squabble between Suleman and a nursing team that offered to help care for the babies, without cost. She later fired them.
In short order, the mother who gave birth to the longest-surviving set of octuplets was ridiculed across a host of Web sites. The so-called Octomom was lampooned in a rap music video, and angry citizens threatened to kill her publicists.
Suleman signed a confidential contract with RadarOnline in April that bars her from providing interviews with other information outlets. She is not allowed to say anything disparaging about RadarOnline for two years, according to the contract, which was reviewed by The Associated Press.
Suleman's fees were initially to be held in escrow. The amounts were redacted from the copy.
The agreement said Suleman wouldn't get paid until she provided material at least five days a week, for at least 30 minutes a day, over seven weeks. A separate fee would be paid for access during the homecoming for the last newborn released by the hospital, according to the contract.
Chris Myers of RadarOnline said he hadn't seen the citations and had no immediate comment. The site's executive vice president, David Perel, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Suleman has faced other public scrutiny in the past. Her workers compensation files were revealed through a public records request, and RadarOnline revealed that child welfare inspectors had visited the home based on a complaint.
Suleman is being sued by attorney Gloria Allred, who asked for a labor investigation and the establishment of a trust for the children on behalf of former child entertainer Paul Petersen, president of a group dedicated to the protection of child performers.
Regulators said they started the investigation independently.
Allred said Tuesday she welcomed the state labor action.
The octuplets - who at birth weighed from 1 pound, 8 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces - spent their first weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center.
Tuesday's citations marked the second time in recent weeks that reality media has had a run-in with regulators.
Last month, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor began looking into whether the hit show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" is complying with child labor laws. The TLC series follows Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raise their eight young children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5.
---
Associated Press Writer Shaya Mohajer contributed to this report.
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 17, 6:12 am ET
WASHINGTON Congress is on its way to giving President Barack Obama what could be its final emergency war-spending bill, an annual budgetary sleight-of-hand that since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has cost the nation nearly $1 trillion.
The Senate is to move to the $106 billion measure Wednesday, a day after the House narrowly passed the bill over the objections of nearly all Republicans and several dozen anti-war Democrats.
The bill provides about $80 billion to maintain defense and intelligence activities in Iraq and Afghanistan through the rest of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. It includes some $10 billion in economic and security aid for those two countries as well as Pakistan and $7.7 billion to combat the flu pandemic.
Obama pushed hard for passage, saying it was crucial to his plans to wind down operations in Iraq in an orderly way while boosting force strength in Afghanistan and providing Pakistan with the military and economic aid it needs to deal with the Taliban insurgency.
The president, who campaigned on a platform of bringing the Iraq war to an end, also sought to placate the anti-war wing of his party by directing that his administration end the practice of emergency spending bills.
Every year since 2001, Congress has approved what are called emergency supplementals, an ad-hoc, unpaid-for approach outside the normal Pentagon budget, to finance military and anti-terror activities. The Congressional Research Service estimates that, with enactment of the current bill, the outlay will approach $1 trillion, with $684 billion for Iraq, $223 billion for Afghanistan and $28 billion for various security programs.
The Obama White House has requested through the Pentagon budget about $130 billion for war operations in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, down from about $149 billion this year.
The House vote on the 2009 supplemental took place as it opened debate on 2010 spending bills. On Tuesday it began deliberation on a $64.4 billion bill to finance law enforcement, science, census and Commerce Department programs in 2010. It includes $18.2 billion for NASA, including money for the next generation of human space flight, and $7.4 billion to prepare for the 2010 census.
The 226-202 House vote on the war spending bill was unusual in that Republicans, strong supporters of military spending, were almost unanimous in opposing the bill.
The minority party objected to the inclusion in the final House-Senate compromise bill of $5 billion to secure a $108 billion U.S. line of credit to the International Monetary Fund for loans to poorer countries hit by the economic downturn.
Obama pledged the U.S. commitment at the G-20 meeting in London last April, but Republicans raised strong objections.
"What does a $108 billion global bailout have to do with protecting our troops and giving them the tools they need for victory?" asked House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland countered that the past three Republican presidents all supported the IMF and suggested that the GOP was raising the issue "to try to embarrass Democrats" by showing they can't pass spending bills. "We can and we will," he said.
Republicans also balked at the removal from the final bill of a provision barring the release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing detainees. Obama, in negotiating that removal, gave assurances that he would stop any attempt to make the photos public.
Last month, when the House passed its original version of the bill without the IMF provision by a 368-60 margin, 51 anti-war Democrats opposed it. This time, with only five Republicans voting for it, Democratic leaders managed to reduce opposition within their party to 32.
Among other provisions in the bill:
_$534 million for some 185,000 service members who have had their enlistments involuntarily extended since Sept. 11, 2001. They will receive $500 for every month they were held under stop-loss orders.
_$10.4 billion for international aid, with $1.4 billion for Afghanistan, $2.4 billion for Pakistan, $958 million for Iraq, $390 million for refugee assistance and $700 million for international food assistance.
_$721 million for U.N. peacekeeping operations.
_$1 billion for a "cash for clunkers" program in which the government offers rebates to consumers who trade in their old gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient models.
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation also concluded that the bill had nearly $7 billion in "add-ons," funds not sought by the Pentagon. That included $2.17 billion to buy eight C-17 transport planes a program that Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in April that he was terminating.
Obama in April requested a supplemental of about $83 billion, including $75.5 billion for defense purposes.
Senators dig in on massive health care legislation
by bugs
Senators dig in on massive health care legislation
Jun 17, 8:24 AM (ET)
By ERICA WERNER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Eye-popping new cost estimates for President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system are forcing majority Democrats to scale back their plans to subsidize coverage for the uninsured.
The $1 trillion-plus estimates came ahead of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's scheduled meeting Wednesday to begin work on a bill encompassing Obama's legislative priority.
Big holes remain on the most contentious issues in the bill by the committee's chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: a new public insurance plan to compete with the private market, and whether employers must provide health care for their workers.
Kennedy is suffering from brain cancer and was not expected to be present. But his deputy on health care, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the committee would move forward anyway with a session to finalize and vote on a bill he said would provide "successful, affordable, quality health care."
The committee was scheduled to meet daily through next week.
Disagreements over costs and other issues hung up another key committee, the Senate Finance Committee, which has a more moderate makeup than Kennedy's panel and is considered Congress' best hope for producing a bipartisan bill.
The Finance Committee was supposed to produce a draft Wednesday. But the Chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said that wouldn't happen and the bill would come out "when it's ready" - later this week or next. His committee was supposed to start voting next week.
Majority Democrats in the House could make their bill public this week, with committee votes after Congress returns from its July 4 recess.
Negotiations were roiled Monday by an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office that said Kennedy's bill would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years but leave 37 million people uninsured, compared with 50 million who are uninsured now.
And on Tuesday a cost estimate for the Finance Committee bill became public: $1.6 trillion. Senators quickly huddled on ways to bring down costs, with Baucus insisting the final price tag on his committee's bill would be around $1 trillion.
At Kennedy's committee, officials said that after penciling in subsidies for families with incomes as high as $110,000, or 500 percent of the federal poverty level, they would limit the help to families up to $88,000 in income, or 400 percent of the poverty level.
The emerging Finance Committee bill also cuts off subsidies to help people buy insurance at 400 percent of the poverty level, but Baucus told reporters a reduction was "a live option." There were indications the final cutoff would be closer to 300 percent of poverty - $66,000 for a four-person family.
Major cuts in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for some of the new costs but senators disagreed among themselves over whether to tax employer-provided health benefits - something Obama campaigned against. Also elusive was a compromise with Republicans on a new public insurance plan, which the GOP opposes.
The emerging bills envision a new insurance market "exchange" where people could go to shop for insurance coverage, helped by federal subsidies. Individuals will almost certainly be required to obtain coverage.
Business groups were working overtime to soften any requirement for employers to provide coverage for their employees or face fines. Most large employers already offer health care, but senators are looking at requiring certain levels of care, so businesses fear a scenario in which the government would force them to offer more or different coverage than they already do.
"We're concerned that the plan requirements will be so robust that our members' plans won't meet those requirements," said Jeri Kubicki, the National Association of Manufacturers' vice president for human resources policy.
Also Wednesday, four former Senate leaders - Democrats Tom Daschle and George Mitchell and Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker - were releasing a $1.2 trillion proposal that would cover everyone and be fully paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
---
AP Special Correspondent David Espo and Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON Evidently, there's a new SWAT team at the White House and it's Barack Obama.
The president, irritated by an omnipresent fly during a TV interview at the Executive Mansion Tuesday, took matters into his own hands.
Said Obama to the persistent fly: "Get out of here."
But it didn't.
So Obama waited for the fly to settle, put his hand up and then smacked the fly dead in one try.
Without missing a beat, the president said to CNBC correspondent John Harwood: "Now, where were we?"
Well, maybe one more second to gloat.
Said Obama: "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker."
The camera crew was still rolling in the East Room. Obama didn't mind. He pointed to the vanquished insect on the ground and said, "You want to film that?"
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) A Florida tent city for hundreds of homeless people lies at the end of a dead-end street, but residents say they have not given up hope of a better life despite the U.S. economic downturn.
The Pinellas Hope camp, 250 single-person tents in neat rows on land owned by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg in a wooded area north of the city, has room for about 270 and has been filled to capacity since it opened two years ago.
"I could open the gates and have over 500 people," said Sheila Lopez, the chief operating officer for Catholic Charities at the St. Petersburg diocese.
The camp has a food hall, bathrooms and showers, a laundry room and a few computers for residents to look for jobs and prepare resumes.
"This is a great place to be. It gives us a great opportunity," said Alex, a resident who declined to give his last name. "We have a safe place to live. It sure beats sleeping on the street."
The number of homeless people in the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, is difficult to pin down, advocacy groups say, because most people are homeless for only a short period of time.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates about 675,000 people are homeless on any given night during a one-month period. Between 2.5 million and 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness for at least one night in a year.
The alliance said it expects more than 1 million people to become homeless as a result of the current recession.
THE END IS NOT NEAR
Tent cities have sprouted across the United States and advocates believe they could represent the leading edge of a wave of homelessness in the coming months as U.S. unemployment, nearing 10 percent, rises.
"I don't think we've begun to see the end of it. I think the challenges remain significant and they remain in front of us," said Ron Book, chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, where calls to a homeless hotline have quadrupled in the last year.
Florida, where unemployment has soared as the recession put out of work thousands of people employed on construction sites during the housing boom, has nearly 50,000 homeless, according to the alliance. Nearly 6,500 of those are in the Tampa area.
Asked about the proliferation of tent cities at a news conference in March, U.S. President Barack Obama said it was "not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours."
He cited his jobs programs and spending on infrastructure as ways of combating the problem.
In some places, tent cities are discouraged. In Seattle, for example, authorities arrested and moved homeless people from a tent encampment -- called Nickelsville as a protest of Mayor Greg Nickels' policies -- on city land last fall. Some of those people have recently returned.
In Sacramento, California's capital, authorities dismantled an illegal encampment of more than 100 people and moved the residents into shelters or permanent housing.
Pinellas Hope was welcomed by St. Petersburg. Mayor Rick Baker said the city contributed $250,000 to the camp last year and city crews helped clear the land.
"We're very supportive of Pinellas Hope. Catholic Charities is particularly good at running this," he said.
NO FAMILIES, NO DRUGS
The camp's residents range in age from 18 to mid-70s. No families are allowed.
Camp rules include no drugs, no alcohol and no violence. Residents come and go during the day but there is a 10:30 p.m. curfew during the week and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Other rules tell residents to be courteous and respectful and to pick up after themselves.
Bob Kinzie, 58, said he has lived at the tent city for six months after losing his job with a security company.
Clean-shaven and neatly dressed in a T-shirt and pants, he said he was renting a home before he lost his job and his car and ended up at the camp.
"It's what you make of it. It's livable," Kinzie said. "I'll come out of this."
People are referred to the tent city by teams of local police and social workers. Once they are accepted, residents are assigned to case workers to try to help them get jobs.
Lopez said the average stay is about 77 days but many stay longer.
Scott, who also declined to give his last name, said he lost his job building boats because of the recession and had been at Pinellas Hope for two months.
"You can't complain. The people are really wonderful," he said.
Scott said he had applied for a job retraining program that was part of Obama's economic stimulus plan, but after being told he qualified, he got a message saying no new applicants were being accepted.
Lopez said it costs $2.6 million a year to run the camp with about half coming from donations of food and other items.
Pinellas Hope replaced a tent city in downtown St. Petersburg that was closed two years ago. Police forced residents to leave and slashed some tents.
Lopez said 80 one-person wooden huts were being added to the tents. She said the diocese hoped to build apartments on the land, which is far from any residential neighborhoods.
A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted prominently, along with signs calling for peace, joy, love and kindness.
How fast R U? Teen Iowa girl wins US texting title AP
by BDB
How fast R U? Teen Iowa girl wins US texting title
AP
?x=213&y=360&xc=1&yc=1&wc=242&hc=409&q=85&sig=Jbl3kN4DnDr_PRFG_tqK0w--
AP Kate Moore, of Des Moines, holds the LG U.S. National Texting Championship trophy, Tuesday, June 16,
By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer 59 mins ago
NEW YORK The nation's newest texting champion has a message for parents across the land although they might not want to hear it.
"Let your kid text during dinner! Let your kid text during school! It pays off," 15-year-old Kate Moore said Tuesday after winning the LG U.S. National Texting Championship.
After all, she said: "Your kid could win money and publicity and a phone."
For the Des Moines, Iowa, teenager, her 14,000 texts-per-month habit reaped its own rewards, landing her the competition prize of $50,000 just eight months after she got her first cell phone.
Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the country over two days of challenges such as texting blindfolded and texting while maneuvering through a moving obstacle course.
In the final showdown, she outtexted 14-year-old Morgan Dynda, of Savannah, Ga. Both girls had to text three lengthy phrases without making any mistakes on the required abbreviations, capitalization or punctuation. Moore squeaked through by a few seconds on the tiebreaking text, getting the best two out of three. As she anxiously waited for confirmation of her win, tears streamed down her face.
The teen dismisses the idea that she focuses too much on virtual communications, saying that while she has sometimes had her phone taken away from her in school, she keeps good grades, performs in school plays and socializes with friends in person on the weekends.
In between, she finds time to send about 400 to 470 texts a day. Among her uses of the text messages? Studying for exams with friends, which she says is better done by text because she can look back at the messages to review.
The finalists, all 22 or younger, were among 250,000 people who tried to get spots in the competition. Some won their spots at the Manhattan finals by being the fastest people to text responses to televised ads.
It's the third year for the texting competition, sponsored by LG Electronics Inc.'s mobile-phones division. But it's the first time that it was held at a flashy sound stage with an illuminated platform and surrounded by TV cameras. LG, based in Seoul, South Korea, is considering using the footage in a televised special of some kind.
Twenty-year-old Jackie Boyd, who came in fifth in the competition, said she usually prefers text messages to phone calls because they get through faster and they're more private leaving her unworried about other people listening in.
"You can get more of what you really truly want to say" across with texting, said the Syracuse University psychology major. "Especially if it's an argument, you don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing.
"And if you don't want to respond, you can always say, 'Oh, I didn't get your text.'"
Mexico finds cocaine haul hidden in frozen sharks Reuter
by BDB
Mexico finds cocaine haul hidden in frozen sharks
Reuter
Wed Jun 17, 4:25 am ET
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) Mexico's navy has seized more than a ton of cocaine stuffed inside frozen sharks, as drug gangs under military pressure go to greater lengths to conceal narcotics bound for the United States.
Armed and masked navy officers cut open more than 20 shark carcasses filled with slabs of cocaine after checking a container ship in a container port in the southern Mexico state of Yucatan, the navy and Mexican media said on Tuesday.
"We are talking about more than a ton of cocaine that was inside the ship," Navy Commander Eduardo Villa told reporters after X-ray machines and sniffer dogs helped uncover the drugs. "Those in charge of the shipment said it was a conserving agent but after checks we confirmed it was cocaine," he said.
Drug gangs are coming up with increasingly creative ways of getting drugs into the United States -- in sealed beer cans, religious statues and furniture -- as Mexico's military cracks down on the cartels moving South American narcotics north.
President Felipe Calderon has sent 45,000 troops and federal police across Mexico to try to crush powerful smuggling cartels. But traffickers armed with a huge arsenal of grenades and automatic weapons are far from defeated, worrying Washington as violence spills over into U.S. states like Arizona.
Some 2,750 people have died in drug violence in Mexico this year, a pace similar to that of 2008, when 6,300 were killed.
Led by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, smugglers from the Pacific state of Sinaloa are fighting a turf war with rivals. Guzman seeks to control Mexican and Central American smuggling routes into the United States.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Patricia Zengerle)
Taylor Swift wins video of the year at CMT awards AP
by BDB
Taylor Swift wins video of the year at CMT awards
AP
?x=213&y=143&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=275&q=85&sig=uMXstRNxPSWZs1jFBLPQsQ--
AP Taylor Swift performs during the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, June 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark
By JOHN GEROME, AP Entertainment Writer John Gerome, Ap Entertainment Writer 12 mins ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Taylor Swift opened the Country Music Television awards with a skit about living out her dreams. The 19-year-old country and pop sensation went a long way toward doing just that by winning video of the year and female video of the year for "Love Story" and by performing with one of her favorite rock bands.
"I want to thank Shania Twain for always making such theatrical videos, and Garth Brooks for always putting the fans first. I take my cues from you," Swift said Tuesday in accepting video of the year honors at Nashville's Sommet Center.
"I thank the fans for giving me video of the year when my whole family is here watching."
Swift won the fan-voted award over Brad Paisley's "Waitin' on a Woman," Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This," Carrie Underwood's "Just a Dream" and Sugarland's "All I Want to Do."
Her "Love Story" video is an elaborate production with period costumes that echoes the story of Romeo and Juliet.
"This is for everybody who still believes in love stories, because I do," Swift said earlier in winning female video.
She closed the awards show by performing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" with the British rock band Def Leppard.
Brad Paisley was the night's other big winner, taking home awards for male video ("Waitin' on a Woman"), collaborative video ("Start a Band" with Keith Urban) and performance of the year (Alan Jackson's "Country Boy" with Jackson, George Strait and Dierks Bentley).
"Start a Band" features two youngsters playing the "Rock Band" music video game. Paisley and Urban urged young viewers to learn to play.
"Learn guitar kids the real thing," Urban said.
"`Rock Band' never got anybody a date never," Paisley added.
In his acceptance speech for male video, Paisley thanked TV's Andy Griffith, who passes on some wisdom to a younger man in the video.
"He has changed my life in so many ways, and to be on film with him you can imagine what that would be like," Paisley said of Griffith, who wasn't at the show.
Rascal Flatts won group video of the year for "Every Day." The band's bassist, Jay DeMarcus, called country fans "the greatest fans on the entire planet."
In accepting the award for performance of the year, Jackson said he signed his record deal 20 years ago this week.
"I've made I think about 45 country music videos in that time," Jackson said. "CMT and the fans have been with me ever since."
Sugarland won duo of the year for their island-themed video, "All I Want to Do," and the Zac Brown Band won breakthrough video for "Chicken Fried," their snappy song about life's simple pleasures.
"Thank you for following us wherever we've been going," Sugarland's Kristian Bush said of the soulful song and video, which features singer Jennifer Nettles on a surfboard.
Kid Rock won wide open country video for "All Summer Long," which samples Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." The video, set on a lake in northern Michigan, features bikini-clad dancers on a pontoon boat.
"I think this was based on creativity, this award, because what's more creative than a strip pole on a pontoon boat?" said Kid Rock, who hugged Sheryl Crow as he walked up to accept the award. A few years ago, Kid Rock and Crow teamed for the hit "Picture."
The show kicked off with a skit featuring Swift and host Bill Engvall that had Swift rapping with T-Pain, appearing in a "Star Trek" movie and playing for the NFL's Tennessee Titans.
In his opening remarks, Engvall poked fun at Jessica Simpson's lackluster country career, saying T-Pain doesn't wear boots or a cowboy hat "and is still more embraced by country fans than Jessica Simpson."
The comedian also had a few cracks for John Rich of the duo Big & Rich. Rich was recently charged with misdemeanor assault charges. The singer recently told Larry King that he may run for governor of Tennessee next year.
"It's not that he likes politics that much. He just thinks it might be easier asking for a pardon," Engvall said.
There were also some unusual combinations with the presenters. Ted Nugent teamed with Alison Krauss, Kid Rock joined model Karolina Kurkova, and Naomi Judd paired with Bill O'Reilly.
"I try to live in the No Spin Zone all the time," Judd told O'Reilly.
Musical performances were a big part of the show. Paisley punctuated his hit "Then" with bluesy guitar solos. Swift brought out a stage full of cheerleaders for "You Belong With Me." Urban ran up into the stands during "Sweet Thing" and joined Jason Aldean for the thumping rocker "She's Country."
The topper, though, may have been Sugarland bringing out fellow Georgia greats the B-52's for a performance of "Love Shack."
Viewers cast more than 2.5 million votes to decide the four finalists in most categories. Fans could vote for their favorites for video of the year throughout the show.
2 girls put on wrong Continental Express flights AP
by BDB
2 girls put on wrong Continental Express flights
AP
Tue Jun 16, 11:23 pm ET
HOUSTON Continental Airlines is blaming "miscommunication among staff" for two different unaccompanied girls being placed on wrong Continental Express flights over the weekend.
Eight-year-old Taylor Williams of College Station ended up in Fayetteville, Ark., instead of Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday. She was sent back to Houston and then to Charlotte to see her father.
Her mother, Wendy Babineaux, says she's never seen "so much incompetence in all my life."
The next day 10-year-old Miriam Kamens, taking off from Logan Airport in Boston, was sent to Newark, N.J., instead of Cleveland to visit her grandparents.
Jonathan Kamens says for 45 minutes no one could tell him where his daughter was.
Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe says both flights were being loaded at the same time from the same doorway.
why didn't they do something as simple as ask check the boarding passes before letting the kids on the planes? these kids are 8 and 10 which is old enough to know what city you going to.
I understand the parents are pissed but anytime you put you children under the care of strangers you are accepting a certain risk...Continental in Houston is a freaken big terminal!
Some airlines you have to pay extra to this service
by Saien
which I agree they should do. Because, quite frankly, you are babysitting and should be compensated.
I would never have done this. I can understand why divorced parents are frustrated with distance but I would never put a child under 14 on a fight on thier own.
I have been on several flights with children flying alone on US Air. Each time they have had a badge or something on to identify them. And I have even seen some type of airline personnel sitting by them. One time on a long delay I was getting something to eat and I recognized a little boy from my flight and someone was with him from the airline getting food at McDonalds.
I alwyas thought they took good care of them. But its amazing in this case that they did not double check their
boarding passes. However I still would never let a young child fly alone.
Parents fuming over airline's kid-on-plane mix-ups (update)
by bugs
Parents fuming over airline's kid-on-plane mix-ups
Email this Story
Jun 17, 5:24 PM (ET)
By JUAN A. LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) - The mother of an 8-year-old girl who was put on the wrong plane while traveling unaccompanied blames the mix-up on "total incompetence and a lack of caring" by Continental Airlines.
Wendy Babineaux said Wednesday she's "getting the run-around" from the airline while trying to find out how her daughter, Taylor Williams, flew out of Houston on Saturday and ended up in Fayetteville, Ark. She was supposed to go to Charlotte, N.C., to visit her father.
The next day, 10-year-old Miriam Kamens wound up in Newark, N.J., while flying alone on the same Continental contractor, ExpressJet. She was supposed to travel from Boston to Cleveland to see her grandparents.
The families had paid a $75 unaccompanied minor fee for the service.
"That they did this with my child and turned around the next day and did it with another child shows they do have major problems," said Babineaux, who lives in the Bryan-College Station area 90 miles northwest of Houston.
Continental, based in Houston, said that in both cases two flights were departing simultaneously from a single doorway and miscommunication among staff resulted in the children being placed on the wrong planes.
"We're reviewing the entire situation and are focused on reinforcing our procedures with our employees," said Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe. "We fly thousands of unaccompanied minors every year and the procedures work when followed."
Babineaux called it "total incompetence and a lack of caring" by the airline.
Miriam's father, Jonathan Kamens, agreed, writing Tuesday on his blog: "When this number of employees messes up, you don't just have a training problem; your corporate policies have made it too difficult for people to do the right thing or too easy to mess up."
Babineaux said she learned of the mistake from the airport in Arkansas - not Continental. She said her daughter - who finally got to Charlotte at about 10:30 p.m. - is unaware of what happened and she doesn't plan on telling her until after she returns to Texas next month.
"I don't want her to get (on the return flight) and be all nervous," Babineaux said.
At Continental, parents provide contact information when arranging for a child to fly alone. The paperwork is then given to employees at the ticket counter and parents are given a dummy boarding pass so they can go to the gate with their child.
A child is supposed to always be escorted and supervised. A child can be escorted by a gate agent to a plane and then handed off to a flight attendant. After the plane lands, the flight attendant is supposed to hand the child off to a gate agent or escort. Parents are given passes for their pickup people on arrival.
At Continental's hub airports - Houston, Cleveland and Newark - unaccompanied minors can wait at supervised facilities called Young Traveler Clubs, which provide entertainment and snacks.
Kamens doesn't think Continental has the right policies in place. He offered some suggestions. First on his list?
"Do not board two planes at the same time out of the same gate, period," he wrote.
Among his other ideas were letting parents or escorts accompany minors onto a plane and requiring the minors preboard.
While Babineaux has hired an attorney, both she and Kamens have said they are not looking for compensation from a lawsuit.
"This way, when (Continental) hears attorney, they think maybe, 'We need to get our stuff together,'" Babineaux said. "I'm hoping to get better treatment for unaccompanied minors so no one will have to go through what I did."
Cripe said the airline has apologized to both families and they have been refunded their $75 fees.
New International Version
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
King James Version
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
The son who was hit by a tree is doing very well. Improving day by day. Moved from ICU to regular room. The other friends son who was beaten is in a common and it does not look good for him at all. Just don't know what to say to his mother or what to do for her except pray.
I'm glad there was some improvement for the person hit by the tree. I'll keep praying for the one that is in a coma. I hope for the best. God bless you.
1837 Charles Goodyear received a patent for rubber.
1856 The Republican Party opened its first national convention in Philadelphia.
1861 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed Dr. Thaddeus Lowe demonstrate the use of a hot-air balloon.
1876 General George Crooks command was attacked and bested on the Rosebud River by 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse.
1885 The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
1950 Dr. Richard H. Lawler performed the first kidney transplant in a 45-minute operation in Chicago, IL.
1963 The U.S. Supreme Court banned the required reading of the Lord's prayer and Bible in public schools.
1972 Five men were arrested for burglarizing the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. The event was the beginning of the Watergate affair.
1994 O.J. Simpson drove his Ford Bronco across Los Angeles with police in pursuit and millions of people watching live on television. After the slow speed chase ended Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
We each have all the time there is; our mental and moral status is determined by what we do with it.
-- -- Mary Blake
Big Daddy Says: The life of man is like a game with dice; if you dont get the throw you want, you must show your skill in making the best of the throw you get.
Are we now going to count how many days have passed since the transition from analog to digital?
The only thing real about the housewives is that it is a total waste of airtime on television.
Dear President Obama, do you still feel that we can negotiate with North Korea just based upon our merits?
I recently listened to the Rush Limbaugh show for the first time, and it opened my eyes to a very frightening threat to America: 25 million Americans regularly listen to Rush.
Im not wearing flip-flops as a fashion statement. Im wearing them because its hot outside, and I bet you are, too.
Summer will be over before the Fox Theatre and Coca-Cola announce their Summer Film Festival!
To my more affluent neighbors: If you recognize something Im wearing that you previously donated to Goodwill, its OK to say something. Ive been Clark Howarding for years!
Why dont they allow the police to wear black tennis shoes while on duty? They would allow them more comfort, cushioning, a better surface to run on, and their shoes would not slip on wet surfaces.
The Confederate flag is a part of history, and you cannot rewrite and/or change history, no matter how much youd like to.
Hate to bust the liberal bubble, but the mortgage problems began with Clinton.
Good riddance, Miss California USA! Your pathetic 15 minutes of fame is over and lasted about 14 minutes longer than it should have.
Ga. 400 has long been paid for! I want my toll refund plus interest!
Gwinnetts county commissioners were elected more by non-voters than by voters. Not enough of you bothered to cast a ballot or the results might have been different. Get off the couch and vote next time, and you might get better results.
No surprise that DeKalb County school leaders were caught cheating on students test scores. Competency isnt at the top of their program.
There are good kids at Atherton Elementary in DeKalb County that actually pass the tests themselves, my son included.
Multiple school systems cheating on the CRCT and not a single word about it from SACS. Interesting.
1 head garlic
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
Freshly ground pepper to taste
eating well Soy & Roasted Garlic Dressing Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Rub excess papery skin off garlic head without separating cloves. Slice the tip off, exposing the ends of the cloves. Place the garlic head on a piece of foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and wrap into a package. Put in a baking dish and bake until the garlic is very soft, 40 minutes to 1 hour. Unwrap and let cool slightly.
3. Squeeze the garlic pulp into a blender or food processor (discard the skins). Add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce; blend or process until smooth. Season with pepper.
eating well Soy & Roasted Garlic Dressing Tips
Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
eating well Soy & Roasted Garlic Dressing Nutrition Information
Per tablespoon: 62 calories; 6 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 33 mg sodium; 30 mg potassium.
0 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 fat
I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! (New)
NBC: Wednesday, June 17 7:00 PM
Reality, Adventure, Game show
Wipeout (New)
ABC: Wednesday, June 17 7:00 PM
Reality
Contestants face the Raging Rapids, the Aqua Launch, the Crazy Sweeper and the King of the Mountain in their bid to win cash and the title of Wipeout Champion.
So You Think You Can Dance (New)
FOX: Wednesday, June 17 7:00 PM
Reality, Dance
The top 18 dancers perform.
The New Adventures of Old Christine (Repeat)
CBS: Wednesday, June 17 7:00 PM
Sitcom
Rage Against the Christine
Christine's new boyfriend has an odd reaction to her competitiveness when she beats him at tennis.
Gary Unmarried (Repeat)
CBS: Wednesday, June 17 7:30 PM
Sitcom
Gary Dates Louise's Teacher
Gary makes a date with Louise's less-attractive teacher to prove that all men aren't shallow.
Law & Order (Repeat)
NBC: Wednesday, June 17 8:00 PM
Crime drama
Take-Out
The search for a writer's killer leads detectives to a closed espionage case.
I Survived a Japanese Game Show (New)
ABC: Wednesday, June 17 8:00 PM
Reality
Criminal Minds (Repeat)
CBS: Wednesday, June 17 8:00 PM
Law, Suspense, Crime drama, Mystery
Soul Mates
The team searches for answers when a young woman is abducted from an affluent community in Atlanta
Law & Order (Repeat)
NBC: Wednesday, June 17 9:00 PM
Crime drama
Anchors Away
While investigating the murder of a TV reporter, detectives learn that she was involved in a love triangle.
The Unusuals (New)
ABC: Wednesday, June 17 9:00 PM
Drama, Comedy
The E.I.D.
Cole and Beaumont search for a criminal who breaks into apartments and films adult movies; Casey tries to help a serial accuser who was once the victim of a violent attack.
CSI: NY (Repeat)
CBS: Wednesday, June 17 9:00 PM
Crime drama, Action, Suspense, Adventure, Mystery
Dead Inside
The team has a difficult time solving a murder after discovering that the primary crime scene, an art-house, is being sent up the East River on a barge.
![[linked image]](http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/thumbnails//Octuplets_.sff_NY133_20090616174932.jpg)
![[linked image]](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090616/capt.87b943796c934d42a8ee0372194422da.addition_texting_championship_nyff103.jpg)
?x=213&y=360&xc=1&yc=1&wc=242&hc=409&q=85&sig=Jbl3kN4DnDr_PRFG_tqK0w--
![[linked image]](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090617/capt.cf4d2d72223b4b2e9d2f136a3f531bbe.aptopix_cmt_awards_show_tnjc145.jpg)
?x=213&y=143&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=275&q=85&sig=uMXstRNxPSWZs1jFBLPQsQ--
![[linked image]](http://imgcache.allposters.com/images/APG/114-12985.jpg)
![[linked image]](http://flutterinn.com/holjune17.jpg)
