Bad vibes

I feel badly for this couple.

I hope they discover what's causing the vibrations and noise.

Mystery vibrations have Green Bay couple spinning
By Paul Srubas • psrubas@greenbaypressgazette.com •

Bob and Leona Ehrfurth are very sensitive to the possibility that people might think they're crazy.
For the record, they're not — but they are being driven that way.

For two years now, the Ehrfurths have been enduring an annoying, persistent noise in their home — a low, motor-like rumble accompanied by a vibration. They can't figure out what's causing it, and it's been a challenge getting others to believe them because the problem starts and stops.

They've lived in the house at 2048 Mary Queen Road for 42 years, and it's only been the last two years that it's been a problem.
"It's like there's a semi parked right outside with the engine running, but when you look out, there isn't one," said Leona Ehrfurth, 76.

And it quits at the most inconvenient times. Like when they bring city officials, acoustic experts or news reporters into their house to experience the problem.

City officials spent $1,000 to hire a company to do some testing this spring; the tester heard no noise, and his equipment failed to measure vibration of any significance.

Nicholson hoped the equipment could be used inside one of the factories in the general neighborhood, but Municipal Judge Jerry Hanson wouldn't sign the inspection warrant that would allow that.

"There has to be some reasonable suspicion of some type of violation you could point to," Hanson said. "Nobody's been able to come up with anything that would point to anything specific."
"Now they KNOW we're crazy," Bob Ehrfurth, 75, grumbled after explaining how a technical expert installed vibration-monitoring equipment in their house and failed to measure anything of significance.

"Imagine putting your pillow on the hood of a running car — you can't sleep through that," Leona Ehrfurth said. "You get this pressure in your ear. Sometimes I have to get out of the house, because I can't take it anymore."

Bob Ehrfurth can sleep through it, but he doesn't like it.
"It doesn't matter if the windows are open or closed — you still hear it," he said. "It's worse in the winter."

Although the two aren't in the best of health, the problem is not with them because when they leave, they don't hear the noise, Bob Ehrfurth said.

The Ehrfurths' immediate neighbors haven't complained about the noise, but the Ehrfurths have had a few people admit hearing the noise. An engineering teacher told the city's Protection & Welfare Committee he tried to help the Ehrfurths investigate the matter, and said he experienced a throbbing sensation in his ears while in the neighborhood and in their house. A resident from about a mile away made similar complaints.

"Yeah, I've experienced it," said Alderman Andy Nicholson, who has been trying to help the Ehrfurths. "It's like an engine thing, a low-frequency vibration. I think it would be an annoyance."

But the source remains a mystery.

The Ehrfurths said they started hearing the noise shortly after St. Bernard's Parish, directly across the street from them, redid its roofing, chimney and ductwork on the wing of its school building. But parish staff members proved to the Ehrfurths that their building wasn't the source when they shut off all of their equipment and the noise continued.

The frustration as well as the annoyance of the noise itself has driven Leona Ehrfurth to tears. She broke down at two public meetings as she tried to explain it.

"He's 75 and I'm 76, and we're both failing fast," she said. "I can't take it. I try to stay in bed, but I get such a bad headache, I can't take it. I have to hang out in the basement or try sleeping in the sunroom (where the noise is less bothersome).

"We could move, but why should we have to? We didn't cause it."

Now who can you trust?

I guess this is one way a bank can manage to survive the credit crisis.

Hand out fake money.


Bank Gave Counterfeit Bills, Couple Says
Different Customer Given Refund After Fake Money Claim, Report Says

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A couple has contacted the Secret Service claiming a Central Florida bank gave them 10 counterfeit bills during a transaction.

IMAGES: Fake $100 Bills Surface

Ulises Garcia said he was withdrawing cash from a Wachovia Bank and depositing it into a Bank of America so he could pay his bills online.

However, the Bank of America teller noticed something funny about 10 of the 36 $100 bills Garcia said he received from Wachovia Bank -- they were counterfeit, Local 6's Tony Pipitone reported.

However, the bank has not given Garcia or his fiancé, Joann Rodriguez, any money.
"We have big plans," Rodriguez said. "We were planning to get married in about two or three months."
"And this money's pretty important?" Pipitone asked.
"Very important," Rodrguez said. "It's a big part of our wedding."
"It is really frustrating for us," Garcia said. "The bank is not doing anything about it. (It's) just not giving us any solutions at all."

A Wachovia representative said it will not refund any money because it can't verify the $1,000 in counterfeit notes were the same bills Garcia was handed by their teller.

But weeks later, Wachovia did refund $40 to another customer with a similar story, Local 6 has learned.

Garcia said Wachovia is ripping him off and has alerted the sheriff's office, the Secret Service and the media.

"Ten (bills) in one transaction to come from one bank, that is definitely unusual," U.S. Secret Service representative Jim Glendinning said.
"But is it possible?" Pipitone asked.
"Remotely, yes it is," Glendinning said.

Glendinning said he was not surprised the Bank of America caught the counterfeits but wondered how a Wachovia could pass the bills unless a bank employee was in on it, Pipitone reported.

The United States Secret Service Web site shows people how to detect counterfeit money.

Flying the unfriendly skies

What?

An airline not taking care of its passengers?

Who would've thought? I mean really.

NYC Lawyer Suing Delta Over Stressful Flight
Alleges Airline Would Not Allow Re-Booking Over Phone; Asking For $5 Million And Class-Action Status

NEW YORK (AP) ― A New York City lawyer is suing Delta Air Lines Inc. for $5 million, claiming the carrier's incompetence and indifference left him stranded in Paris for four days last October during an airport workers' strike.

Thomas Mullaney says Atlanta-based Delta refused to let passengers rebook flights by telephone and for "unfathomable" reasons insisted they go to the chaotic airport and rebook there. Mullaney says he paid $5,000 for two round-trip tickets and Delta refused to reimburse him for the unused portion.

He returned home on American Airlines. Mullaney's lawsuit says he believes Delta stranded and failed to reimburse thousands of passengers. It was filed Wednesday in Manhattan and seeks class action status. Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton says she can't comment on pending litigation.

Throwing gasoline on the fire

I too have noticed, particularly at one stattion in New Braunfels, that after putting in your card and turning on the pump, yet you haven't started the gas flowing that the meter has already rung up 4 cents. It may not seem like a lot but multiply that by a 1000 refills a day and it is $40.00. That times 30 days a month becomes $1200 and a year it is roughly $15,000. For no reason and for no gas delivered.

You got a hundred stations like that it becomes an extra $1.5 million a year Baby!

State official: Fuel pumps "cheating drivers"
Peggy Fikac - Express-News

AUSTIN – Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said Tuesday an unprecedented investigation by his office found 58 percent of pumps under the banner of a single company were shortchanging consumers on gasoline.

At 15 of the 86 stations owned by Petroleum Wholesale LP, operating under the name Sunmart, Staples said every pump was "cheating drivers" on gasoline. More than half the pumps at another 32 stations were shortchanging customers, according to the Agriculture Department. Of a total 1,704 fuel pumps at all 86 stations, 990 were shortchanging customers, he said.

"At a time when families are struggling to purchase fuel, I am sure all Texans would agree with me that despicable violations such as these are repulsive and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Staples, whose agency is responsible for checking gas pumps for accuracy.

Petroleum Wholesale general counsel Stuart Lapp, reached by telephone at the company’s headquarters at The Woodlands, didn’t have an immediate comment.

The problem pumps were shut down, and Staples said the company could face more than $100,000 in fines from his department after going through "due process." Staples said he also has referred the case to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for possible further action.
Sunmart isn't alone in having pumps that don’t give customers the precise amount of gas for which they pay.

More than 5 percent of the 109,369 pumps inspected last year in Texas -- 5,778 of them -- either gave the wrong amount of gasoline or had other problems that put them out of commission until they were fixed.

Of those problem pumps statewide, almost 28 percent, or 1,612, shorted customers on gasoline beyond a small variance allowed by the state, according to Texas Department of Agriculture inspection data analyzed by the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle for a story earlier in July.

That percentage reflects only inspection categories that measure gas output, not other problems that can affect pump accuracy and also potentially short the customer. Another 27 percent of the problem pumps statewide, or 1,575, doled out more gasoline than they should have.

Staples said most station owners are not trying to shortchange customers. Officials have noted that achieving perfection with mechanical devices wouldn’t, as a practical matter, be possible.
Staples said his investigators focused on Sunmart, however, because of "some egregious violation patterns that pointed to the possibility of a single retail fuel company intentionally shortchanging Texas drivers."

In the probe, dubbed "Operation Spotlight," investigators went to Sunmart’s stations for a look at all their pumps. The operation began Friday and ended late Sunday night.

"While these results are damaging enough, I believe the facts would have been even more incriminating had the company not dispatched a band of technicians, scurrying to get ahead of my team of inspectors, in order to recalibrate fault fuel pumps," Staples said at a Capitol news conference. "Sunmart obviously became aware of our blitz by midday Friday."

Petroleum Wholesale has stations across the state, including in Bexar County. The majority of its stations are in the Houston area, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.

1000th Post!

Wow.

This is the 1000th Man o' Law posting. To think this all started in Mid-December, 2007.

Thank you for reading and visiting my blog.

Jennifer, behave yourself in Europe, no international incidences please!

Not while Obama is there.

Mom on the run

Maybe she left to get money from an ATM machine and left the child behind as security?

Ya think?

Shoplifter left daughter behind

A German shoplifter who ran off with expensive cosmetics was caught after leaving her six-year-old daugher behind.

Birgit Mahler, 33, stuffed the cosmetics worth £80 in her handbag and left the shop in the German city of Sonthofen without paying.

But a security tag set off an alarm, and as soon as she heard it Mahler ran off down the road before staff could react.

A police spokesman said: "She showed staff a clean pair of heels, unfortunately she forgot about her six-year-old daughter who was left standing alone wondering where her mother had gone."
Store staff called police and they collected the child together with a social worker.

The spokesman added: "The girl's father turned up to report the child missing and seemed genuinely surprised to hear how his daughter had been lost.

"We took down the details of the mother and have arranged to interview her over the incident."

More TSA stuff

I have an artificial knee and I always tell them. They do the search stuff, I act polite and they act polite, no problemo.

Fliers Complain About X-Rated Security Screenings
TSA Agents Forced Woman To Remove Nipple Rings, Pulled Pants Off Disabled Man

When travelers go to the airport, they know what kind of security to expect: luggage searches, metal detectors and shoe inspections. It's all part of our post 9-11 reality enforced by the Transportation Security Adminstration. But as CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports, thousands of travelers have complained that some of these screenings can become abusive and even x-rated.

For arguing with a TSA agent, Robin Kassner wound up being slammed to the floor. She's filed a lawsuit. "I kept begging them over and over again get off of me ... and they wouldn't stop," Kassner said. And it wasn't enough for another woman to show TSA agents nipple rings that set off a metal detector. The agents forced her to take them out. Mandi Hamlin said, "I had to get pliers and pull it apart."

In Chicago, people like Robert Perry are subjected to exhaustive security checks. He was patted down, his wheel chair was examined and his hands were swabbed, all in public view in a see-through room at the security checkpoint. Perry, 71, is not alone "It's humiliation," Perry said. Perry was also taken to a see-through room by a TSA agent when his artificial knee set off the metal detector. "He yelled at me to get the belt off. 'I told you to get the belt off.' So I took the belt off. He ran his hands down over and pulled the pants down, they went down around my ankle," Perry said.

At that point, Perry was standing in his underwear in public view. He asked to see a supervisor. That made things worse. "She was yelling 'I have power, I have power, I have power," Perry said. The power to stop him from flying to Florida with his wife that day to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. "It makes you feel like you have no rights," Perry said.

Perry said he always alerts TSA agents about his metal knee and wonders why they can't just check his leg. "If somebody told me that I would save the people on the airplane by taking my pants off out in public out there, I wouldn't mind doing it, but this was not necessary," Perry said. TSA officials said that when the metal detectors go off, their agents must resolve what caused the alarm.

But experts have said it's important to use common sense when balancing security and customer service. Carlos Villarreal, former director of security for the Sears Tower, said proper training is crucial. "When you're wanding somebody and you can identify which part of the body set of the alarm, that should be sufficient to clear a person," Villarreal said.

But all too often, it's not enough for 16-year old Michael Angone. She frequently flies as a member of the Chicago Children's Choir. "I've had to completely take my pants off and show them like my entire leg," Angone said. As a baby, Angone was diagnosed with cancer. Her parents, both Chicago police officers, had to have her leg amputated. She said she always warns TSA security agents that her prosthetic leg will set off the metal detector, but many insist on doing an embarrassing full body pat-down. "I feel like I'm being felt up in public," Angone said. Her father Bob Angone wanted to know, "What's the reason for all the feeling up, you know the groping at the back of the neck, the chest, underneath the bra, all the groping on her body, her buttocks?" CBS 2 News asked the TSA those questions, but got no answers. "The key word here is reasonable, and they have gone off the track. They are not reasonable," Bob Angone said.

The TSA declined to comment on the Angone and Perry cases, but the agency has announced that soon, passengers who set off an alarm that cannot be resolved will have a choice: Agree to a physical pat-down or what some believe is an even worse invasion of privacy. This fall, O'Hare International Airport will get its first advanced digital x-ray machine. It allows TSA agents to see through clothes and discover any hidden weapons. Critics have likened it to a virtual strip search. A spokesman said that out of 2 billion passengers screened nationwide since 9-11, there have been only 110,000 abuse complaints. As for the nipple ring case, TSA did change its procedures regarding body piercings.

Really Petty Theft

Yes, you read right.

42 cents.

Maybe he needed to buy a stamp?

Police arrest man accused of taking 42 cents from mall fountain
By RYAN MILLS (Contact)

Do you believe someone should be arrested for stealing 42 cents from a shopping center fountain?
Sure. A crime is a crime.
Maybe. Is there more to the incident than initially reported by police?
No. Let it go.
No. Gimme a break ... a fountain? At a mall?

NAPLES, FLORIDA - With sky-high gas prices, 42 cents won’t get you very far nowadays.
However, it will get you a trip to jail.

A 43-year-old Bonita Springs man was arrested Monday morning after Naples police say he stole 42 cents from a mall fountain.

Laslo Mujzer, 43, 26801 Silverado East Drive, was charged with petty theft under $100, a misdemeanor.

Around 11:15 a.m. Monday, a customer at the Coastland Center mall approached a mall security guard, and told her that a man was stealing money from a fountain outside, police reported. The security guard, Heather Watson, found the man, later identified as Mujzer, and detained him until police arrived.

A sign attached to each fountain at the mall reads: “All coins donated to Habitat for Humanity of Collier County.”

A Naples police officer who arrived at the scene found Mujzer in possession of 42 cents — just enough to purchase one first class stamp.

The mall security guard pressed charges and Mujzer was arrested and booked into the Collier County jail. Collier County Sheriff’s Office logs report that Mujzer was booked into the jail on a $500 bond.

Attempts to reach Mujzer on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

“If we have a complaint and a complainant that is going to sign a sworn statement, then we will make an arrest,” said Naples police Capt. John Adams.

In an e-mail Tuesday, mall Senior General Manager Glen D. Harrell, said there was more to the story than what was reported in the arrest log. He said he would provide more information after meeting with police at 4 p.m., but never did.

“I am not going to comment, except to say we continue to look at the details of the incident,” Harrell wrote in a follow-up e-mail.

It is not unusual for police officers to arrest people who steal small items from local retail stores, Adams said. Police officers have arrested people for stealing change from fountains before, Adams said.

“He shouldn’t be taking change out of the mall fountain,” Adams said. “It’s not found money. It’s money that’s destined for charity.”

Adams said reports in other media that Mujzer was charged with having fake identification are incorrect.

“There’s some confusion. He did not possess positive ID,” Adams said. “I think it was misreported that it was a fake ID. He was identified on the scene by the officer. … He had something with his name on it, a document, but you would not be able to positively identify him with that document.”

Seems to be a righteous shooting

WTF?

Sucked to be him I guess.

L.A. man killed by police after San Diego Bay rescue
The man fought with officers after being pulled from the water and was shot, police say.
By Ari B. Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A man who went overboard during a party cruise in San Diego Bay was killed by police Saturday night after he attacked the officers who had tried to rescue him, police said today.Police said the man was on the cruise with at least 800 other people when he somehow ended up in the water after 11 p.m. He was identified today as Steven Paul Hirschfield, 37, of Los Angeles.

The boat's captain sent a distress signal, and two Harbor Police boats and one Coast Guard vessel pulled Hirschfield from the water.

But Hirschfield began fighting with police as soon as he was on board, said San Diego Harbor Police Sgt. Dave Fouser."You're trying to help some guy out the water, and he's fighting," Fouser said. "He became very combative with the officers, and somewhere in the course of the fight, he was able to get one of the officer's Tasers away from him."Fouser said Hirschfield knocked one officer to the deck and then used the Taser to strike him in the face. When Hirschfield then tried to grab one of the officer's guns, Fouser said, the other officer shot him.

Hirschfield was taken ashore to an ambulance and was pronounced dead from the single gunshot wound, Fouser said.The San Diego Police Department's homicide unit was investigating the shooting along with the San Diego Harbor Police Department and the county District Attorney's Office.

It's unclear how many of the 800 passengers on the party cruise saw the incident, but police said they took the names and contact information for all those on board.

Stop, in the name of the law!

No swinging allowed zone I guess.

But guns drawn? Did the officers think anyone had a concealed weapon? In a sex club where most were probably nekkid?

Hee hee. What? I'm just sayin'

Cops raid Duncanville swingers' club
By JON NIELSEN / The Dallas Morning News

DUNCANVILLE – Police raided a notorious swingers’ club Saturday night, confiscating personal property from more than 50 people who were there.

Duncanville police executed a search warrant at the club, the Cherry Pit, which has been the subject of a Duncanville ordinance that bans sex clubs.

No one was arrested.
“They had guns drawn when they busted down the door,” said Ed Klein, the Cherry Pit’s attorney. “You’d have thought this was some kind of meth lab.”

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance was scheduled to be heard this week, but was postponed.

The search warrant alleges violations of the city ordinance, including operating a sex club in a residential neighborhood.

Jim Trulock, 59, and Julie M. Norris, 30, operate the club at their house in the 1300 block of North Cedar Ridge Drive.

City officials have said that the club is a public nuisance that is "detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the city of Duncanville."

Duncanville officials declined to be interviewed this afternoon, but did issue a news release.
“The Cherry Pit, located in a Duncanville neighborhood, is advertised as a swingers’ club and has been previously cited for violating the City of Duncanville Code of Ordinances,” it said.

Mr. Trulock has received 10 citations, five for operating a sex club and five for operating a sexually oriented business without a license, city public information officer Tonya Lewis said.

Duncanville police said this afternoon that they were still cataloguing the evidence collected. The city wasn’t releasing details about what was found, but Mr. Klein said wallets, credit cards and purses were confiscated.

Mr. Klein said guests were photographed, and police took their work information before letting them go early Sunday morning.

Pro Se hassle

My two cents worth?

Those folks who will be using the pro se center are generally not those you want to have as clients anyway. They cannot afford legal representation and many will not pay out the full costs. Furthermore they are at risk for being bilked by less than ethical attorneys.

Having said that I think the Judges proposing the Pro Se Center have their heart in the right place but failed in promoting the idea amongst those it would affect the most. The lawyers who practice everyday in the Courthouse. The SA Bar needs to stop "looking down" at the solo practitioner who may not be a member of the bar association and reach out on this issue as well.

No, I do not know how the groups can reach a consensus on this issue but reach it they must to have it happen.

Thank you Ms. Allen for the coverage on this issue.

Elizabeth Allen: Pro se realities; political and otherwise

Express-News

The pro se fight revealed a deep and long-rankling schism between groups within Bexar County's legal community.

Commissioners were impressed when District Judge Karen Pozza and Appeals Court Justice Phyllis Speedlin presented them with the proposal for a self-help center for pro se litigants. They unanimously voted in January to add $11 to the lawsuit filing fee to pay for two lawyers and a staff person to give people simple forms and/or redirect them to lawyers and other services.

That launched a rumbling that rose to a roar of backlash. And when the opposition started bending commissioners' ears, led by John Longoria, the process got political.

The four Democrats on the commissioners court today voted against the proponents, including the San Antonio Bar Association. They voted the desires of the opponents -- a higher number of lawyers in family law, the Mexican-American Bar Association of San Antonio, the San Antonio Black Lawyers Association, even the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

While some lawyers raised legal objections to the program, others admitted they were concerned about potential lost income. Even those not directly affected, like Andrew Del Cueto of the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said they were offended at having been left out of the process. One lawyer, Shirley Erlich, afterward called the SA Bar "arrogant" and said its leaders had called opponents "nonmainstream lawyers."

During the forum, where people spoke for and against (despite the likelihood that the decision had already been made), Appeals Court Justice Rebecca Simmons reminded commissioners that citizens have a constitutional right to meaningful access to the courts, to represent themselves and to equal justice under the law. But many stumble through the system with hand-written documents that don't address basic child support and visitation issues, and a standardized handout would help them as well as the judges who must deal with them.

Personal injury lawyer Frank Herrera said many of his clients are in that position. Up to 85 percent are Hispanic, he said, and many live in the precincts under commissioners Tommy Adkisson, Chico Rodriguez and Paul Elizondo.

"Commissioner Larson, I have very few in your district," Herrera acknowledged, to laughter.
Herrera supports the pro se center, he said, for everyone, "whether you're Donald Trump or Guadalupe Gonzalez living on Guadalupe Street."

A frustrated Pozza told commissioners that dozens of impoverished people come to the courthouse every day who have "been turned away at every door."
"To pretend that there's no need out there is fiction," she said. "We're having a debate among lawyers, and you need to be having a debate out there with your citizens because that's who is being affected."

Commissioner Paul Elizondo used the vote as an opportunity to lecture Pozza and her allies on how to play politics.
"The intent was good; it was wonderful," he said. "In this particular case, it's a matter of whose ox is getting gored."

"I think it's kind of insulting to treat an adversary, or to treat someone that thinks differently than we do, to treat their opinions in a way that makes less or little of their intelligence," he continued.

"A successful fighter of any kind has to learn to respect the adversary. Unfortunately, one side has not exhibited this in this discussion." Unless Thomas Jefferson appears in the room to suggest a miraculous solution, he said, "the rest of us mere mortals have to work this out."
County Judge Nelson Wolff said he saw the political writing on the wall -- having counted to three, one being Elizondo, two being Sergio "Chico" Rodriguez, and three being Tommy Adkisson, the commissioner and family law lawyer who had been tasked with leading the two groups to a compromise.

"Turns out this will happen today," Wolff said. "It is confusing to a number of us up here that don't practice law, but I think a significant mistake was made in the ability to reach out and talk to lawyers in the bar association." Wolff said he was swayed "to see this huge number of lawyers here who would be directly affected."

I was in the midst of writing about the commissioners' decision when a woman walked into my office.

She'd just come from the law library, carrying a packet on filing her own divorce. She was lost, or at least feeling so.

"They told me to talk to the lady downstairs," she said. She's trying to get an uncontested divorce from a marriage that has no property and no children, so theoretically it should be the simplest of cases. Her husband has said he doesn't have time to come down from Oklahoma where he's lived for the past two years, and she should just take care of it.

But even the process of getting her husband to sign a waiver so she can proceed without him is intimidating, the library book on the process seems complex, and the feeling of wandering around the courthouse late in the afternoon, not sure of the next step, is overwhelming.

"It's so easy to get married," she said, "and so hard to get a divorce."

Oww, my eyes!!!

All I know is I better not get sued by a TSA employee for the trauma of seeing me semi-nekkid thru my clothes.

And no that is NOT me in the picture.

Miami airport security cameras see through clothing
By Ina Paiva Cordle Miami Herald

Travelers, be aware: Your full-blown image — private parts and all — could soon be visible to a security officer, on-screen, at an airport near you.

Miami International Airport is one of a dozen airports nationwide that have begun pilot-testing whole-body imaging machines, which reveal weapons and explosives concealed under layers of clothing.

"It allows us to detect threat objects that are not metallic and that cannot be detected by metal detectors, and items that are sometimes missed even in a physical pat-down, in a nonintrusive manner," said Mark Hatfield, federal security director for the Transportation Security

Administration at MIA

As passengers step inside the machine, they extend their arms and legs for several seconds, as millimeter wave technology creates an image. About 25 feet away, in a covered booth, a security officer in radio contact, views the ghostly silhouette -- with the face blurred -- on a screen. The officer determines if a concealed weapon, such as a ceramic knife, or explosive detonation cord, exists, Hatfield said.

''The image projected is more humanoid than human,'' he said. "What's important is providing a clear view of a threat object. And the person going through the machine will never see the operator.''

'RANDOM SELECTION'

So far, the technology has been used for five days at two MIA checkpoints, at Concourses G and J, replacing the machines that emitted puffs of air. At least two more body-imaging machines will be deployed in the next few months, one at J and one at an interim checkpoint at C/D, Hatfield said. Each machine costs $170,000. To date, no explosives have been detected, he said.

At least for now, the TSA is using ''continuous, random selection'' to choose passengers for the machines, and it is optional. Travelers who decline will be physically patted down. All passengers must still go through metal detectors.

''For our travelers, through this airport, this machine adds even an additional layer of security,'' said Miami-Dade Aviation spokesman Marc Henderson.

An honor long overdue

Its long overdue.

Rest in peace Deputy Alfred Fischer.

Finding a place in history
By Mitzie Stelte

FISCHER — “No, he has killed me,” said the sheriff’s deputy before pulling back his coat to reveal the gunshot wound to his chest. With that, he fell to his death.

This could be mistaken for a gripping final scene of a Hollywood western, but in fact, it’s the true story of Alfred Fischer, a Comal County Sheriff’s Deputy killed March 10, 1917.

Until now, Fischer hasn’t been recognized with the other Comal County officers killed in the line of duty. “He was lost to history,” said Comal County Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Reynolds. Fischer was born in September 1880 in Fischer, Texas, the community named for his family, according to his great-nephew, Terry Fischer.Alfred Fischer’s father came to Texas from Germany in 1849 and settled first near Seguin before moving to Comal County, about 20 miles northwest of New Braunfels, in 1852. He married and had three sons: Alfred, Otto and Rudolph. Shortly after arriving, the family opened Fischer General Store and Fischer Hall; both buildings still are in existence.

It was at Fischer Hall where the deputy’s life came to an abrupt end at the age of 37.

The Agricultural Society — created in 1875 to help Germans who had settled in the area — was hosting a dance at the hall that evening, Terry Fischer said, adding that Alfred Fischer had been hired as security for the dance. “He was a handsome fella that the ladies liked,” said Merle Fischer, Otto Fischer’s daughter, who has heard stories about her bachelor uncle.

At the dance, the deputy noticed a man with a gold watch matching the description of a timepiece taken in a December burglary. Alfred Fischer called the sheriff and was instructed to arrest the man.

Terry Fischer’s records of the murder trial after his great-uncle’s death say the man resisted arrest, fled and three shots were fired as Alfred Fischer and others pursued. A witness testified he struck the fleeing suspect on the head, causing him to collapse near some brush about 100 yards away. Rudolph Fischer who was there, too, feared his brother had shot and killed the suspect. But when Alfred Fischer opened his coat, everyone realized he was the man who had been shot.

The suspect, identified in Terry Fischer’s papers as George Burkhardt, was sentenced to 50 years for murdering the Alfred Fischer. However, Burkhardt walked free a year later when his conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Appeals on April 3, 1918. According to Reynolds, in 2007, Lt. Kyle Coleman of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, who researches lost officers from the Central Texas area, contacted Comal County officials about Fischer.“It was just something we knew about in the family,” Terry Fischer said.

Now, his great-uncle will be recognized on a memorial wall dedicated to the other two officers killed in the line of duty in Comal County outside the training room at the sheriff’s office, Reynolds said.

Deputy Ed Murphy died on Sept. 21, 1981, in a helicopter crash, and Deputy William Urban died Feb. 7, 1994, of a heart attack. The sheriff’s office also has submitted Fischer’s name and supporting documentation to the “National Officer Down Memorial Wall” in Washington D.C. and to the Sheriff’s Association of Texas for inclusion on the “Lost Lawman Memorial” in Austin.The sheriff’s office also plans to submit Fischer’s name to the “Texas Peace Officer’s Memorial” located in Austin.

“Poor guy,” said Terry Fischer. “He wasn’t really recognized for the sacrifice he made. It’s long overdue.”

Demolition derby on the streets of New Braunfels

OMG are we playing Grand Theft Auto-New Braunfels now?

‘Demolition derby’ lands man in jail
By Chris CobbThe Herald-Zeitung

A New Braunfels man was jailed after allegedly turning his attempt to flee from police into a demolition derby Sunday afternoon.

After being confronted by officers from the New Braunfels Police Department at his house at 141 Rueckle Road, Alfredo Maldonado reportedly jumped behind the wheel of a car and tried to outrun police, ramming into three patrol cars before finally smashing into parked cars along nearby Morningside Drive, police said.

The 30-year-old Maldonado now faces two felony counts of aggravated assault of an officer, each carrying a potential of five to 99 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

NBPD officers arrived at Maldonado’s residence about 3 p.m. after receiving a domestic disturbance call. Maldonado fled, leading officers on a short-lived car chase. He managed to get a block from his residence at the Hillside Village RV Park before his vehicle left the road and collided with several unoccupied vehicles, police said. The brief getaway attempt left both Maldonado and one police officer with minor injuries.

Maldonado was taken to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-New Braunfels where he was treated before being booked in Comal County Jail.NBPD spokesman Mike Penshorn said the Maldonado’s jaunt caused minimal damage to the three patrol cars, but did substantial damage to one of the cars parked along Morningside.

According to police, Maldonado had an outstanding warrant for a motion to revoke probation, and had been arrested in February for two Class A misdemeanor charges of interfering with an emergency call and resisting arrest, search or transport.

Holy smokes Batman, say it isn't so

Nothing but the finest news here.

Another "hero" trashed.

Batman star in holy dust-up?

By MIKE SULLIVAN and ANTHONY FRANCE: The Sun

COPS allowed Batman star Christian Bale to attend the biggest film premiere of the summer last night — despite him being accused of assault.

Bale, 34, faces questioning over the claim — made by his own mother and sister.

But he was able to attend the first European screening of new Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight in London’s West End.

He is alleged to have lashed out on Sunday night at Park Lane’s Dorchester Hotel — where he has a suite.

Mum Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 40, who lives in Dorset, went to a police station in Hampshire yesterday to lodge the allegation. The matter was referred to the Met Police.

Detectives, well aware of last night’s glittering bash, took the decision not to approach Bale yesterday. But they are expected to make attempts to quiz the Wales-born actor today.

A source said: “It was a very difficult situation but it would have been wrong to have wrecked the premiere over a complaint which we don’t yet know is founded in truth.

“But Mr Bale will be contacted at the earliest opportunity and be asked to provide an account of anything that happened.”

A Met Police spokesman said: “We can confirm we have received allegation from another force in relation to an alleged incident in central London.”

The allegation is the latest drama to surround the film. In January Heath Ledger, who plays arch-villain The Joker, died from an accidental drugs overdose aged just 28.

And a special-effects technician was killed last September in a stunt car accident.