Ice cream wars

Nope, apparently they lost their Good Humor.

No good humor in frosty Pa. frozen treat feud

Associated Press -

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Police are hoping the threat of losing their permits will be enough to thaw the frosty relationship of two Pennsylvania ice cream truck drivers accused of trying to run each other off the road.

The Herald-Standard of Uniontown reports police told the rival vendors to chill out after a dispute Wednesday night.

Authorities say the wife of one vendor told police the other man tried to run her husband off the road.

The rest of the story:

Pass the savings along please.

Yup.

Great news.  Now, pass the savings along please.

Malpractice lawsuits plummet

By Don Finley - Express-News

If there was any doubt that tort reform in Texas has kept doctors out of the courthouse, consider this: Surgeons at the University of Texas Health Science Center were hit with 25 malpractice lawsuits in the decade before it passed in 2003.

Since then? Only three.

As expected, it also slashed their legal costs — from about $600,000 a year before the law was passed, to $500 a year since then.

The rest of the story:

Reward for information on Deputy's killing

Someone, somewhere, knows who did this.

Call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867 or the Sheriff's Office at 210-335-6070.

Make some money and serve justice.

Information on deputy's killing worth $52,000

Reward bolstered as investigation into fatal shooting of sergeant intensifies
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

The reward offered for information on the killing of Bexar County sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Vann reached $52,000 Monday, bolstered by donations from the Texas Municipal Police Association, multiple police agencies across Texas and Vann's relatives, and it might grow higher as word of the slaying spreads, officials said.

Vann, 48, was killed with an automatic weapon, said Deputy Chief Dale Bennett, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Vann, a 24-year veteran, was in his marked patrol car en route to a call when he was ambushed. While stopped at a red light at Rigsby Avenue and Loop 410 around 2 a.m. Saturday, someone in a small white car pulled up and shot him, authorities have said.

Authorities have not determined a motive or released information on suspects, other than to say that Vann was likely killed because he was a law enforcement officer. A multiagency task force based in the AT&T Center parking lot and led by sheriff's Deputy Chief Rey Lujan is investigating. Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said Sunday that the officers would not rest until “we find the guy who did it.”

The rest of the story:

Farewell Jaden, we hardly knew you

An infant dies in the small apartment where his parents cooked meth.

A whole world lost.  A world in which the young Jaden Esparza would have grown up.  A world in which he would have laughed and loved.

All lost now.

Rest in Peace Jaden, we hardly knew you.

Infant dies after being rushed from possible meth lab

Parents face drug charges, questions about his death.
By Michelle Mondo - Express-News

The death of an infant Monday was under investigation after police discovered that the small Northwest Side apartment where the boy reportedly lived was being used as a meth lab.

San Antonio police Sgt. Dave Berrigan said that around 4 p.m., police were called for shots fired at the Sun Park Apartments in the 1800 block of Bandera Road.

Around the same time, a man and woman were seen running around the complex parking lot trying to find a ride to the hospital while carrying their son's unresponsive body, officials said.

The rest of the story:

Happy Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day
 
Dear Readers;


Today is the day that America stops to reflect on the sacrifices made by the men and women of its armed forces.  Many of whom have paid the ultimate price to give us the many freedoms that we enjoy.

To those of you that read this blog from many countries overseas and outside the United States, take this day to thank the troops of your countries who stand like Horatio on the bridge to protect us all.

I note too, that I have one daughter who has enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and she will report to basic on June 28th and another who starts college at Norwich University this Fall and who is in the Corps of Cadets.  She plans on entering the US Army ROTC or USMC ROTC program.

I thank them as well for their sense of duty.

Best Regards;


Man o' War

You're number one!!

He was merely expressing how he thought the trooper was number one in his eyes.

**Ahem**

I mean it could have just been an honest mistake with no intent; like the President in this photograph.

Man who gave trooper the finger has charge dropped

Associated Press -

DENVER (AP) — A harassment charge has been dropped in the case of a 35-year-old Colorado man who faced prosecution for displaying his middle finger to a Colorado State Patrol trooper.

The State Patrol said in a statement late Friday that it asked that the case be dropped.

The American Civil Liberties Union had argued that while the gesture may be have been rude, it amounted to protected free speech.

According to the ACLU, Shane Boor was driving to work in April when he saw a trooper pull over a car.

As Boor passed by, he extended his middle finger in the trooper's direction.
Boor was later stopped and received a criminal summons ordering him to appear in court to answer a criminal charge of harassment, which carries a possible six-month jail term.

That's throng NOT thong

Wilkommen!

Enjoy the area responsibly please.

New Braunfels prepares for a throng of tourists

By Roy Bragg - Express-News


NEW BRAUNFELS — It's the time of year when the rivers will be clogged with inner tubes and the streets will run white with sunscreen.

More than 3 million tourists descend on this town of 57,740 every year, said Judy Young, Convention and Visitors Bureau director, most of them in the 99-day window that stretches from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Merchants will be happy, Young said, since those visitors pump $469 million into the local economy, filling most of the town's 22,000 hotel and motel rooms.

The rest of the story:

Master of the obvious

And this is news, why?

It's not like they're writing stories about the sun coming up in the east and setting in the west.

This is a pretty obvious piece of knowledge I would think.

High-powered weapons prized by Mexican cartels

Survey shows ‘bigger is better' with guns smuggled from U.S.
By Dan Freedman - Hearst newspapers

WASHINGTON — Convicted gun smuggler John Phillip Hernandez wasn't the kind of customer Bushmaster Firearms International had in mind when he bought 14 of its .223-caliber AR-15s at Houston-area gun shops in 2006 and 2007.

Bushmaster describes itself as a “leading supplier” of AR-15 rifles, a civilian clone of the U.S. military's standard-issue M16, “for law enforcement, security and private-consumer use.”

But the weapons Hernandez and his associates bought wound up in the hands of gunmen from Mexican drug cartels, including a Bushmaster .223 that was among the weapons used to kill four police officers and three secretaries in Acapulco, an attack dubbed “the Acapulco police massacre.”

The rest of the story:

Please behave better when you're caught red-handed

She's in big trouble now.

Alleged Walmart shoplifter goes on rampage

Consumerist.com -

This is a textbook example of how not to behave when asked for your receipt at a store's exit.

According to the Bradenton, Florida police, a 22-year-old woman tried to leave a Walmart with 43 items she hadn't paid for, worth a total of $211. When asked for her receipt, she went on a destructive rampage, causing more than $1,000 worth of damage to merchandise. She also punched and spat on store employees, and hit a manager with a bar stool from inside her cart.

Police officers discovered marijuana in her purse, and she has been charged with, among other things, aggravated assault and battery.

Aaand....they're off!....

So the start of the Presidential primary races isn't the only racing going on in Iowa.



Iowa bar owners ticketed over illegal mouse racing

Kristy Mergenthal Reporter

DANVILLE, Iowa—

On May 19th the Des Moines County Sheriff Department raided a Danville, Iowa bar after receiving a complaint from a patron that illegal activity may be going on. The owners Jan and Scott Beach have now been ticketed for knowingly allowing criminal activity at the bar.

     UPDATE:  The Des Moines County Sheriff issued a statement Thursday, May 26, 2011 that said Jan Beach was also charged with unlawful alcohol containers and conducting charge sales without a credit card.

Outside, the Bucktail Lodge looks like you normal country bar but on the inside police say they're breaking the law with illegal gambling.  But it's not what you might think.

"Mouse racing is entertainment, entertainment for family, friends and its something to do on a Sunday afternoon," said Scott Beach, owner of Bucktail Lodge.

Assault and Buttery

Yes, buttery.

Not mistyped.

Dawn Elizabeth Rhash Attacks Roommate With Butter, Cops Say 

AOL Weird News -

There's a thin line between buttery and battery -- and Dawn Elizabeth Rhash crossed it, according to police.

Sheriff's deputies in Collier County, Fla, say the 49-year-old attacked her male roommate with butter on May 21.

The incident occurred at some point before 6:46 p.m., when authorities arrived on the scene of a reported domestic disturbance and encountered the victim outside the home he shares with Rhash, according to an police report obtained by AOL Weird News.

The victim told deputies that he and Rhash "were having an argument about what food was hers and what was his" when the suspect "threw butter at him striking him in the leg," the document notes.

Deputies observed that the victim "did have butter on his ankle."

When authorities confronted Rhash, the noticed a "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her person and facial area."

Rhash allegedly confessed she had been drinking vodka, but insisted that she did not hurl butter at her housemate.

Simple answer: Don't commit murder

Commit murder; get beheaded.

Any problems here?

Class dismissed.

Saudi beheads Sudanese for murder

www.france24.com -

AFP - Saudi Arabia on Friday beheaded a Sudanese man convicted of murdering a compatriot in the capital Riyadh, the interior ministry announced.

Sadiq Abdel Mullah was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing of Ahmed Mohammed, it said, quoted by the state-run news agency SPA.

His beheading raised to 22 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP count.

In 2010, 27 executions were reported in the oil-rich kingdom, down from 67 in 2009 and 102 in 2008.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the conservative Muslim kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

UPDATE: From earlier post

I knew the patrol supervisor.

He was a fine officer.

Please catch the bastards that did this.

Deputy shot and killed

By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News

A veteran Bexar County Sheriff's deputy was apparently ambushed and killed in a hail of semi-automatic gunfire while stopped at a traffic signal early Saturday.

The deputy, Sgt. Kenneth Gary Vann, had been on the force for 24 ½ years and was a patrol supervisor, said Bexar County Deputy Chief Dale Bennett.

Vann, 48, was in a marked unit stopped at a red light at Rigsby Avenue and SE Loop 410 on the city's East Side when a car pulled up alongside his and opened fire with no warning, officials said.

The rest of the story:

A witch hunt

I first posted about this yesterday.

Here is some additional news about the charges.

The geologist/criminal prosecutor in me is just baffled by this.

Remember you can't spell manslaughter without laughter.

Italian seismologist charged with manslaughter

FoxNews.com

Italian government officials have accused the country's top seismologist of manslaughter, after failing to predict a natural disaster that struck Italy in 2009, a massive devastating earthquake that killed 308 people.

A shocked spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) likened the accusations to a witch hunt.

"It has a medieval flavor to it -- like witches are being put on trial," the stunned spokesman told FoxNews.com.

Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), will face trial along with six other scientists and technicians, after failing to predict the future and the impending disaster.

Earthquakes are, of course, nearly impossible to predict, seismologists say. In fact, according to the website for the USGS, no major quake has ever been predicted successfully.

"Neither the USGS nor Caltech nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake," reads a statement posted on the USGS website. "They do not know how, and they do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future."

John Vidale, a Washington State seismologist and professor at the University of Washington, agreed that earthquake forecasting is simply impossible.

"We're not able to predict earthquakes very well at all," he told LiveScience.

"One problem is, we don't know how much stress it takes to break a fault," Vidale told the site. "Second we still don't know how much stress is down there. All we can do is measure how the ground is deforming."

Not knowing either of these factors makes it pretty tough to figure out when stresses will get to the point of a rupture, and an earth-shaking quake, LiveScience explained.

The rest of the story:

You're despicable!

Yesterday I posted about some folks who were stealing train tracks.

Now this.

I hope it was all just a mistake and the chair gets returned.  If not, I hope whoever took it gets caught and pays the piper for doing this.

Scrappers suspected of stealing teen's wheelchair

CBSChicago -

GURNEE (CBS) — Police believe scrappers, people who cruise areas when it is garbage day and pick up metal, may have been the ones who stole a teen’s wheelchair.

Marlon Tapang’s specialized motorized wheelchair was taken just before the bus arrived to take him to Warren Township High School last Friday, which was garbage day in his Hasting Lane neighborhood.

His mother, Jarka, said the chair cost $7,681.

The rest of the story:

Nine lives or what?

This just seems incredible doesn't it?

Fired SAPD lieutenant reinstated - again
By Michele Mondo - Express-News

San Antonio Police Lt. Lee Rakun has staved off his second dismissal from the department — his 14th suspension overall in a 17-year career — and this time, he said, he will not mess it up.

“This is my last debacle for me,” said Rakun, 42.

Police Chief William McManus fired him on Sept. 9 for lying to internal affairs investigators, disobeying an order and failing to report a crime. The discipline followed an investigation into a domestic disturbance between Rakun and his then-girlfriend, Norma Sanchez, both of whom unleashed a torrent of accusations, each claiming abuse by the other.

The rest of the story:

Nemo me impune lacessit (No one injures me with impunity)

This just posted.

My prayers and thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Please catch the folks that did this.

Deputy shot and killed

By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News

A Bexar County deputy sheriff's patrol supervisor in a marked unit was apparently ambushed and killed in a hail of gunfire on the East Side early Saturday.

Authorities at the scene of the shooting at Loop 410 and Rigsby Avenue said the patrol sergeant, that one source said had been a deputy for 25 years, was sprayed by multiple rounds from a semi-automatic weapon and died at the scene shortly after 2:12 a.m.

“We don't have much at this point,” said Chief Deputy Sheriff Manuel Longoria at the scene, where dozens of San Antonio police, sheriff's deputies and investigators combed the area for clues as dawn approached.

The rest of the story:

This is just great

Great news this.

How long will it take to find them and how many are heading to Texas?

Computer errors allow violent California prisoners to be released unsupervised

A computer system that lacked key information about inmates factored in the release of an estimated 450 prisoners with a "high risk of violence," according to the California inspector general.

By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

 

Reporting from Sacramento -- Computer errors prompted California prison officials to mistakenly release an estimated 450 inmates with "a high risk for violence" as unsupervised parolees in a program meant to ease overcrowding, according to the state's inspector general.

More than 1,000 additional prisoners presenting a high risk of committing drug crimes, property crimes and other offenses were also let out, officials said.

No attempt was made to return any of the offenders to state lockups or place them on supervised parole, said inspector general spokeswoman Renee Hansen.

The rest of the story:

WTF!!??

OMG Really??!!

Steel rustlers?

String 'em up!

Two Men Caught Dismantling Manteca Railroad Tracks Hoping To Cash In On Metal

CBSSacramento-

MANTECA (CBS13) — A pair of thieves spent hours dismantling a section of the Manteca railroad tracks, only to have their plan derailed by a neighboring worker.

 “They have no fear of getting caught, doing this in broad daylight, that’s just crazy,” said an Ace Tomato employee.

A man who didn’t want to appear on camera is one of many Ace Tomato employees working in the yard when he noticed the duo destroying the private railroad line.

The rest of the story:

Parents sentenced in death of child

Good job Guadalupe County DA's office!

Couple convicted of manslaughter in child's death

By Bob Thaxton Seguin Gazette Enterprise

SEGUIN — A Schertz couple has been sentenced to three years in state prison after being convicted of manslaughter and injury to a child in the death of their 8-year-old daughter.

After a 5 1/2 hour hearing Wednesday afternoon, 274th District Judge Gary L. Steel set punishment at a three-year term in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for David N. Brasse, 37, and Samantha Britain Brasse, 34, who were found guilty in a jury trial that ended April 11.

The rest of the story:

DWI NO REFUSAL EVERY DAY COMAL COUNTY

WTG Mel.

Anecdotal information indicates that the blood warrants are showing that folks stopped are generally 2X the legal limit or more.

Please, enjoy Comal County responsibly.


'No Refusal' goes 24/7 in Comal County
By Dalondo Moultrie New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung


NEW BRAUNFELS — Starting this holiday weekend, law enforcement agents who stop suspected drunken drivers throughout most of Comal County will not be taking no for an answer.

 The majority of the county is going to a “No Refusal” policy from May 27 until Sept. 5. That means suspects who refuse to complete field sobriety tests will be further coerced to submit to blood tests, said Mel Koehler, the county’s misdemeanor chief prosecutor.

The rest of the story:

A geologic crime?

What!??

This is just plain nuts.

You might as well charge the African Tectonic Plate for aiding and abetting as well.

7 experts to be tried over 2009 Italy quake

By FRANCES D’EMILIO - Associated Press -

ROME: Seven scientists and other experts were indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday for not warning residents before a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009.

Defense lawyers condemned the charges, saying it’s impossible to predict earthquakes.
Judge Giuseppe Romano Gargarella ordered the members of the national government’s Great Risks commission, which evaluates potential for natural disasters, to go on trial in L’Aquila on Sept. 20.

Corriere della Sera’s Web site and other Italian media quoted the judge as saying the defendants “gave inexact, incomplete and contradictory information” about whether smaller tremors felt by L’Aquila residents in the weeks and months before the April 6, 2009 quake should have constituted grounds for a quake warning.

The rest of the story:

You've got mail!

This made the news in India.

I'm just not sure why.

Mumbai woman gets obscene e-mail from friend

By Mateen Hafeez - The Times of India

MUMBAI: The cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the Mumbai police, while probing an obscene email sent to a female employee of a private firm, found that the mail was in fact sent by her friend who posed as a man.

After the police tracked down the culprit, the matter was closed as the victim did not want to file an FIR against her friend.

A police source said, "The culprit sent a mail to the victim from a fake email account on May 2. The mail contained vulgar and obscene sentences. The culprit, who posed as one Prakash Jadhav, asked the victim, who is married and has a child, if she was getting satisfaction from having sex with a few colleagues. The sender also wrote that he would give her full satisfaction if she agreed to have sex with him."  

The rest of the story:

Boom in China

They seem to have their own problems with malcontents as well.

Blasts near govt buildings kill 2, injure 6

Xinhua -

NANCHANG - Two people were confirmed dead and six others were injured in Thursday morning's serial explosions in east China's Jiangxi province, the local government said.

Explosions went off at three different locations in Fuzhou City between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., near the city's procuratorate office, the Linchuan district government and the district's food and drug administration.

Police wrapped up search and rescue outside the Linchuan district government office Thursday afternoon and retrieved one body.

The rest of the story:

How were the fava beans?

Did he eat it with fava beans and a nice Chianti?

Moscow 'cannibal' asks for psychiatric help

The Moscow News -

An ex-butcher accused of murdering an acquaintance and eating parts of his liver is hoping to dodge jail on mental health grounds.

A Moscow court spokesman said that Nikolai Shadrin, 40, has denied murder, saying that the victim died of “other causes”, while his lawyer said the suspect needed mental health care rather than a solitary confinement cell.

Shadrin claims he cut up the corpse and scattered it across the city because he “did not feel sympathy” for the dead man, RIA Novosti reported.

Please write 1 Million times....I will be good from now on....

What if they don't comply?

Will their probation be revoked?

What if they plagiarize it?  Or have someone else write it?

Ohio judge gives defendants homework assignments

Associated Press -

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A judge in Ohio gives defendants what sounds like homework assignments as a part of probation sentences.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Stacy Cook in Toledo has ordered offenders to write five-page reports on topics including teen violence, drug use and head injuries.

The judge tells The Blade newspaper her goal is to get defendants thinking about why what they did was wrong and how it hurt others.

The Blade reports Cook has told as many as 30 people to write papers since she took the bench in 2007. She reads all of them and says it seems that the number of writers who've later returned to her court for serious probation violations has been low.

Lawyer Richard Hasbrook agrees with that assessment. He's the public defender in Cook's courtroom.

Byte me!

Do you remember the celebrations by the Palestinians on September 11, 2001?

I do.  There is a video posted below if you don't remember, just to refresh your memory.

I have no patience for their demands.  Let them do some good faith negotiations and give concessions and then we'll see.

Palestinians: Netanyahu peace outline unacceptable

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parameters for a peace deal, outlined in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, fell far short of what is needed to resume negotiations, Palestinian officials said.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians."
Israeli settlers, the Islamic militant Hamas and Netanyahu's moderate parliamentary opposition also expressed criticism.

The Palestinians want to establish their state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. They have said they are ready for minor border adjustments through land swaps, to enable Israel to annex several of the largest of the dozens of Jewish settlements it has built on war-won land since 1967.

The rest of the story:

Sickening assault by ...wait for it... the boyfriend! Surprised?

Really?

Just 12 years?  For this?

I guess there were concerns about the mother's recantations.

Baby sitter sent to prison for broken leg, mutilated genitals

One young victim suffered ‘mutilated' genitals, while other had broken leg.
By Craig Kapitan - Express-news

A baby sitter was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday for beating two young brothers so severely that one suffered a broken leg and the other was described by police as having “mutilated” genitals.

Cipriano Neira, 23, pleaded no contest as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. He could have faced up to life in prison for the injury to a child charges.

Emergency responders arrived at the West Side apartment Neira shared with his girlfriend and her sons in March 2010 after the mother said her oldest son, then 4, had hurt his leg while jumping on the bed.

The rest of the story:

They're nothing but HOAs

Its a shame that the bill was pulled.  I believe that HOA's have too much power and that in many instances it seems that the system may be abused by those in the HOA hierarchy.

Better luck next time I guess.

Bill on abusive HOAs pulled

By Patricia Kilday hart - Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN — With a midnight deadline approaching, the author of a bill in the Texas House designed to make homeowners associations more accountable to their communities said he would rather let the measure die than accept a weakened version promoted by Houston homebuilder and mega-political-donor Bob Perry.

A frustrated state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, pulled his bill down after the House accepted an amendment he said would put into law “some of the worst business practices out there.” He blamed homebuilder Perry and his chief lobbyist, Austin attorney Buddy Jones, for killing his legislation with a “misinformation” campaign.

Solomons said it was the second time Perry had thwarted efforts to rein in abuses by homeowners associations. In a speech on the House floor, Solomons said a bill that had passed the House last session had 25 supporters on the floor of the Senate — easily a majority — but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — after fielding complaints from Perry — refused to call the bill up for a vote.

The rest of the story:

Hating on the donuts

Maybe it was a political statement?

Or maybe they are just acting like wild animals?


Teens Riot In Manhattan Businesses
MYFOXNY.COM STAFF REPORT

MYFOXNY.COM - It's like a flash mob gone bad. Security footage from a Manhattan Dunkin' Donuts shows a group of youths climbing on counters, throwing chairs and throwing tables in a violent attack on workers.

It happened at the Dunkin' Donuts on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.  A $2,000 hot chocolate machine was reportedly destroyed in the attack.

Similar attacks have targeted other stores in the neighborhood in the previous weeks.

The rest of the story:

Teens Riot In Manhattan Businesses: MyFoxNY.com

Having no football is a crime!

Okay then!

Is this a modern-day version of Brad and Circuses to entertain the stinking masses?

Kinda sounds like it to me.


Ray Lewis Makes Controversial Comments About NFL Lockout
CBSBaltimore -

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Controversial comments. Ravens star Ray Lewis issues a stern warning, saying if there is no football crime will increase across the country.

As Kai Jackson explains, not everyone agrees

Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis is known for speaking his mind and that’s exactly what he did when ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio asked Lewis about the NFL lockout.

Weird Stuff going on

Dear Readers;

Once again we are suffering from technical glitches making it near impossible to post this morning.

I will try to see if fixed later.

Thank you for your patience!

Sincerely,

Man o' Law

Boy recovered safely

I'm glad the boy is all right.


Missing teen safe after high-speed chase
By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News

A suspected kidnapper surrendered Monday morning after an hour-long, high-speed chase in East Texas with a boy abducted in Wimberley in tow.

Around 9:15 a.m., Madison County deputies looking for Christopher Perry, 35, and Dakota Shane Thompson, 13, spotted Perry's red Ford Mustang, said Sheriff Travis Neeley.

Perry refused to pull over and the ensuing chase reached speeds of 110 mph, Neeley said.

The rest of the story:

Pool punishment

They were lucky and escaped getting a Darwin Award.

Ohio pair serve time in pool for rafting offense

Associated Press -

PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A northeast Ohio couple found themselves up to their ankles in trouble for rafting on a flood-swollen river without life preservers and lying about it afterward.

A judge sentenced them to stand in a tiny swimming pool while wearing life jackets and handing out water safety brochures Saturday at a festival in Painesville, 30 miles northeast of Cleveland.

Twenty-year-old Grace Nash and 22-year-old Bruce Crawford pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct during an emergency. Searchers spent hours looking for them last month after they were spotted on the Grand
River. They made it to land but lied to an official about being in the water.

They chose the pool punishment and community service over 60 days in jail.

Nash tells The News-Herald in Willoughby they've learned their lesson.

Ohio pair serves time in pool for rafting

Change of Venue

His case has been officially transferred to a Court of much-higher jurisdiction.

Good luck with that.

Texas pastor charged in W.Va. hangs self in jail

Associated Press -

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia State Police are investigating the death of a Texas pastor who killed himself while in custody on a sexual assault charge.

Sgt. T.S. Mills tells media outlets that 41-year-old Matthew Jarrell of Terrell, Texas, hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell.

Regional jail authority acting chief of operations John Lopez says Jarrell was found late Saturday night. Efforts to revive him weren't successful. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

The rest of the story:

The camel's nose is going inside the tent

I am certain this development will eventually be inimical to India and others in the Region.

Pakistan turns to China for naval base

By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad and Kathrin Hille in Beijing

Pakistan has asked China to build a naval base at its south-western port of Gwadar and expects the Chinese navy to maintain a regular presence there, a plan likely to alarm both India and the US.
“We have asked our Chinese brothers to please build a naval base at Gwadar,” Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, Pakistan’s defence minister, told the Financial Times, confirming that the request was conveyed to China during a visit last week by Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan’s prime minister.

Hitherto, China has shied away from moves that might alienate the US and Beijing’s neighbours, such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia. “China’s rise is a beneficial force for peace and we have no hegemonic ambitions,” said a Chinese official familiar with Beijing’s security policy.

But Christopher Yung, senior research fellow at National Defense University in Washington, said in a recent paper “the nature and degree of China’s access to out-of-area bases will be the ultimate indication and warning” of its eventual intention to become a global military power. A Pentagon official said: “We have questions and concerns about this development and [China’s] intentions. But that is why we believe it is important to have a healthy, stable and continuous military-to-military relationship.

The rest of the story:

Major Biotch Fight??!!

I can only just imagine! what this must sound like!

Older bin Laden widows think younger wife tipped off U.S.

Christina Lamb - The Australian

THE three widows of Osama bin Laden are turning on each other in custody, with two older Saudi women blaming a much younger Yemeni wife for leading American intelligence to their hideout.

"It's vicious," said a Pakistani official briefed on the interrogation of the widows. "The older wives think the younger one tipped off the Americans or was tracked when she came to join him."

The al-Qa'ida leader was living with three wives when he was killed in Abbottabad three weeks ago. Until US investigators discovered his hiding place, it was not known whether bin Laden and his family were alive. Some reports suggested that they had been killed in the US bombing of Afghanistan.

Although the compound where bin Laden hid for five years was large, the three wives were all cooped up in the same house. The older two lived on the second floor and the youngest one on the top. Their husband alternated between them. Pakistani officials who have been debriefing the women portray life in the compound as an Islamic version of Desperate Housewives.

The rest of the story:

Willy Wonka and the Golden Ticket Fixer

I'd be pissed too!

Angelinos furious over special 'Gold Card' for traffic tickets

L.A. Now -

Los Angeles residents are up in arms over the existence of the "Gold Card," a plastic parking bureau card distributed to city offices that includes a special phone number.

The obscure Gold Card Services Desk allowed the mayor and other elected officials to expedite citation reviews.

On the back, the card notes that the holder may have an "urgent need to resolve any parking citation matter which requires special attention." It promises "you will be immediately connected to our Gold Card Specialist."

A report released Thursday by City Controller Wendy Greuel found that about 1,000 Los Angeles city parking citations were dismissed over a two-year period -- some without justification -- as part of the Gold Card operation.

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Bump and runs

Its a devilishly ingenious tactic to get you out of your car isn't it?

Be careful out there.

Drivers in West Palm, Delray shot in 'bump and rob' attacks

By Alexandra Seltzer and Sonja Isger - Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH — There's a new crime in town. It's called the "bump and rob." And local law enforcement is increasingly worried over drivers being victimized.

So much so, they are warning Palm Beach County residents that if you are driving on the road between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. and another car bumps you from behind, do not get out of your car.

"It's very serious," said Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Davis. "We're sending out warnings and tips because it is serious."

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Yes, it tastes good. I would like 25 more pieces of toast please!

But, did it spread easily and evenly?

US woman to stand trial for pot-laced margarine

Associated Press -

NEW KENSINGTON, Pennsylvania (AP) — A woman will stand trial on charges she fed marijuana-laced margarine to a 12-year-old girl she was baby-sitting, as well as two other children at her home.

The 12-year-old's mother called Upper Burrell Township police after discovering the drugs in a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in 22-year-old Stevie Hickey's freezer. The woman tells police Hickey spread the substance on two pieces of toast that Hickey gave to the girl.

Police say Hickey told the girl it was "parsley butter" but later acknowledged to police that it was marijuana.

The Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum reports Hickey remains free after waiving her right to a preliminary hearing on marijuana possession and child endangerment charges May 10. 

Her home phone is disconnected.

Rocking the scam

Maybe we can sell the real lunar rocks on e-Bay to help close the deficit?

I mean like at $2 million a pound the 840 pounds of rock would fetch $1.68 Billion.

Hmmm.  Not enough, figure in inflation and sell them for $2 Billion a pound.  That'll fetch $1.68 Trillion.  Mo' bettah.

CA woman touting moon rock for $1.7 million stung by NASA

by Robert Jablon, Associated Press -

LOS ANGELES (AP) — She promised the moon, for a sky-high price. He wasn't buying.
A woman who tried to sell what she said was a rare piece of moon rock for $1.7 million was detained when her would-be buyer turned out to be an undercover NASA agent, officials said Friday.

The gray rocks, which are considered national treasures and are illegal to sell, were given to each U.S. state and 136 countries by then-President Richard Nixon after U.S. moon missions and can sell for millions of dollars on the black market.

NASA investigators and Riverside County sheriff's deputies detained the woman after she met Thursday with an undercover NASA investigator at a restaurant in Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the sheriff's office said. The investigation was conducted over several months.

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What? No rapture today?

Well, apparently the time has passed 6 p.m. in several time zones and no one has risen from their graves or been taken into heaven like Elijah on his fiery chariot.

I guess I need to pay my bills today.

Darn it.

Apocalypse not now: The Rapture fails to materialise

Christian doomsday prophet Harold Camping had predicted the world would end at 6pm on Saturday
guardian.co.uk -

Christian doomsday prophet Harold Camping looks likely to be less than rapturous after his prediction that the world would end on Saturday failed to materialise.

The 89-year-old Californian preacher had prophesied that the Rapture would begin at 6pm in each of the world's time zones, with those "saved" by Jesus ascending to heaven and the non-believers being wiped out by an earthquake rolling from city to city across the planet.

But as the deadline for the Apocalpyse passed in the Pacific islands, New Zealand and Australia, it became apparent that Camping's prediction of the end of the world was to end not with a bang but with a whimper.

Only on Twitter did the supposed armageddon sweep the world, with users expressing their mock disappointment at the lack of dead people rising from their graves.

New Zealander Daniel Boerman tweeted: "I'm from New Zealand, it is 6:06PM, the world has NOT ended. No earthquakes here, all waiting for the rapture can relax for now. #Rapture"

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Little Vandals

How did these girls get the freedom to run around and do this?

How did they get into the school on the weekend?

Holdrege classrooms vandalized; Girls ages 8, 6 are suspects; paint, sand, glitter leave $20K in damage to classrooms

By JENNIFER CHICK Hub Regional Correspondent


HOLDREGE — It’s a sad and unexpected ending to the school year for kindergarten students at Franklin Elementary School in Holdrege.

Because of vandalism to both kindergarten classrooms at Franklin during the weekend, kindergarten students will not be able to return to their classrooms for the last week of school.

Instead, Franklin kindergartners and their parents were informed by a recorded phone call from Franklin Elementary Principal Amber Porter late Sunday night that they will not have school this week.

“The damage was severe enough that we cannot have class in the classrooms,” Porter wrote in a brief email statement.

The district looked at all options but could not find the space or supplies to have class for the kindergarten students for this last week.

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Don't make me pull the pin

Holy hand grenade!!

Woman Threatens Dairy Queen Employees with a Grenade

myfoxphoenix.com

MESA, Ariz. - Police say a homeless woman entered a Dairy Queen restaurant and threatened employees with a grenade.

When 30-year-old Renee Deshaies attempted to leave the scene near Olive and Main Street, she still had the grenade in her hand.

The victims believed the grenade was real and feared for their safety.

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No matter how you slice it

Jeeze; what is it with women and fast-food restaurants lately?

We had the McDonald's attack about three weeks ago and now these.

Police: Louisville woman pulls sword at Pizza Hut

Fox41.com -

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41) -- Police say a woman involved in an argument at a Louisville Pizza Hut raised the stakes considerably when she tried to pull a sword.

It happened Thursday night, shortly after 9 p.m. at the Pizza Hut on 7th St. Rd., near Dixie Hwy.

According to an arrest report, police were called to the restaurant after they received reports that 29-year-old Wynika Mason was "causing trouble." When they got there, she allegedly began yelling at the officers.

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Frickin' hilarious

Hahahahahaha.  *snort*  hahahahahahhahahahaha

Thanks for the laugh, Dude.

Robber removes hood, shows face to camera

UPI.com -

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 19 (UPI) -- Authorities said they got a clear picture of an Ohio bank robbery suspect's face when he complied with the facility's "no hats, no hoods" policy.

FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas said the man, described as a white male appearing to be in his 20s, was waiting in line at the PNC Bank on South Hamilton Road in Columbus about 4 p.m. Monday when a bank employee told him he would have to take off his hood, which was concealing most of his face, The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.

Trombitas said the man complied, allowing security cameras to get clear photos of his face before he got to the front of the line and handed a note to a teller demanding money and saying he had a gun.

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