truesee's Blog

Sarah Palin like the Arizona law designed to clamp down on illegal immigration, she thinks all states along the border should adopt it.

Sarah Palin not only thinks Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law is a great idea, she thinks everyone should do it.

The ex-Alaskan governor wants to see other states along the Mexican border adopt similar laws.

"Every other state on the border should emulate what Arizona has done," Palin said during an interview on Fox News Business.

"Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, has taken it upon herself and the state government to do what the feds should have been doing all along," she said. "Yes, other states should do what Arizona is doing."

Several states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Maryland and Colorado, are already considering tougher illegal immigration laws in the wake of Arizona's efforts. However, fellow Mexico border states New Mexico, California and Texas have been less willing to adopt similar policies.

Each of those states fear alienating their Hispanic communities, which are deeply ingrained in the state cultures, and in the case of New Mexico, is much larger than in Arizona.

Although it doesn't take effect until July 29, the controversial immigration law passed recently by Arizona has deeply divided the nation, with politicians and activists speaking out in droves to either slam, or support, the effort.

Several cities and states have formally boycotted Arizona, arguing that the law - which strictly states race cannot be used as a factor for questioning a suspected illegal immigrant - would still lead to racial profiling. 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/05/20/2010-05-20_sarah_palin_every_state_should_have_immigration_law_like_arizona.html#ixzz0oWkbpHQH

 KSL TV5

SALT LAKE CITY -- A carjacking suspect provided a trail for police to follow when he left identification in his victim's car.

Salt Lake City police say the carjacker approached a man at a gas station near 900 South and State Street around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, showed a gun and demanded a ride.

The man drove the carjacker around until he spotted a police officer and pulled over. That's when the carjacker took off.

"The suspect, when he jumped out, he actually left his wallet in the victim's car," said Lt. James Tracy with the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Hours later, a Midvale police officer stopped a pickup truck after spotting a man in the back seat who wasn't wearing a seat belt. That man's name matched the ID in the wallet -- John Rhodes.

Police say Rhodes also was wanted on a $150,000 warrant for aggravated burglary. Officers booked him in to the Salt Lake County Jail.

LINK TO VIDEO AND PHOTO:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10845030&autostart=y

Associated Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - A month ago, a mother and father identified a body in a morgue as their daughter's. A funeral was held and the family mourned its loss.

But it turned out that 39-year-old Tea Buric was still alive. This week police found her when they showed up at an apartment in the southern city of Split to investigate a report of domestic violence.

Buric was disoriented and lacked identification, so police checked her fingerprints and discovered she had been identified by her family as dead.

The body found floating in the Split harbor on April 15 turned out to be that of a 44-year-old woman who had disappeared earlier that month, Split police said.

Police spokeswoman Marina Kraljevic-Gudelj said in an interview on Thursday that police didn't use DNA to identify the well-preserved corpse because four relatives, including the parents, had identified it.

Local experts also said the DNA procedure, considered expensive in Croatia, is generally only used if a corpse cannot be identified or appears to have been the victim of a crime.

The parents of Buric and the 44-year-old deceased woman declined to discuss the case.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-sharry/first-lady-michelle-obama_b_582168.html

Neighbors upset downstate school has been converted to strip club

Topless dancers perform in former cafeteria; old teachers lounge now a VIP room

Tribune reporter

May 20, 201

School FINES Students For Cursing

Huffington Post   

Leah Finnegan

First Posted: 05-19-10 08:54 AM   |   Updated: 05-19-10 08:55 AM 

A Mississippi community college is cracking down on cursing -- by charging students money when they utter an off-color word.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

At Hinds Community College, swearing can get you in trouble. "Public profanity, cursing and vulgarity" are all punishable with a $25 fine for a first offense, and a $50 fine for a second offense. Further, the offense of "flagrant disrespect" (which may be demonstrated by swearing, as became clear Tuesday when a controversy over the code went public) can earn a student demerits that could lead to suspension.

Hinds appears to be relatively rare among public colleges in regulating speech in this way. And the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has taken up the case of a student who faced charges following an incident in which -- after class, but in the presence of an instructor -- he said that a grade he had just received was "going to up my entire G.P.A." The instructor first threatened to place the student in detention and when the student pointed out (correctly) that the college doesn't have detention, the "flagrant disrespect" charges were made.

Many say the policy is a flagrant abuse of the First Amendment, but some academics agree that curbing sometimes out-of-control profanity on campus can be difficult, especially as more students feel entitled to be rude.

Associate General Counsel of St. Mary's College and Association for Student Conduct Administration President W. Scott Lewis recommends schools take a more holistic approach to campus civility. "You need to talk about rights and responsibilities," he told Inside Higher Ed.

 What do you think?

Sacramento Area Local News

May 18, 2010 4:37 pm US/Pacific

First-Grader Suspended Over Yearbook Comment

Reporting
David Begnaud

YUBA CITY (CBS13)

A first-grader from Yuba City has been suspended from school for a day after scratching out a picture and writing a comment in her own yearbook, and school officials said they are sticking by their decision.

Natalie Day, 7, spent Tuesday home from school after she was suspended for "disruption" -- scratching the picture of a classmate out of her yearbook at writing "because she is rude" next to the classmate's name, according to the suspension form given to her mother.

"She's been a bully to me all year," Natalie said. "I can't do anything for it."

Crystal Ledger, Natalie's mother, said her daughter has been bullied by the classmate all year, but admits that Natalie had once told the girl she would beat her up. Crystal said she even asked for her daughter to be moved to another class.

"To me this whole thing is a little silly," Crystal said. "I told her she did nothing wrong. This is her yearbook. I bought it for her, if she chooses to cut out, like, stick people, that's fine. This is her property."

Yuba City Unified School District superintendent Nancy Aaberg said there are other elements to the situation she cannot release due to privacy rules.

Aaberg said other "relevant information" may not have been on the suspension form but may have been verbally told to Natalie's parents, something Crystal denied.

"I don't want to make too much drama out of it but we have to agree that there's more to the story that I'm not able to share," Aaberg said.

There is no reason not to stand by the principal's decision, Aaberg added. The principal who suspended Natalie declined a request for interview from CBS13.

The classmate in question has also been suspended from school.

Crystal said Natalie will return to school Wednesday.

2 women booked in smuggling try

LIVINGSTON PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE

From left: Harvey LeBlanc, Melissa A. Lennox and Nikki C. Rushing.

Advocate Florida 

May 19, 2010

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20004788-504083.html

Jefferson County geometry teacher uses wrong example to teach angles --- assassination of President Barack Obama

May 18, 2010, 6:30AM

The Birmingham News

UPDATE: Geometry teacher who used Obama assassination as example placed on leave

A Jefferson County teacher picked the wrong example when he used as­sassinating President Bar­ack Obama as a way to teach angles to his geome­try students.

Someone alerted autho­rities and the Corner High School math teacher was questioned by the Secret Service, but was not taken into custody or charged with any crime.

"We did not find a credible threat," said Roy Sex­ton, special agent in charge of Birmingham's Secret Service office. "As far as the Secret Service is concerned, we looked into it, we talked to the gentleman and we have closed our investigation."

Cops: Man tries to trade baby for beer

Matthew Brace, 24, charged with child endangerment

Updated: Tuesday, 18 May 2010, 1:46 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 18 May 2010, 7:54 AM EDT

Jennifer Colby and Laura Hutchinson

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - A father was allegedly caught trying to trade his infant baby for beer at a Chicopee gas station on Monday.

The incident occurred at the Pride Station on Burnett Road in Chicopee around 1 p.m. Monday.

Chicopee Police Sgt. Christopher Lareau told 22News that 24-year-old Matthew Brace of Northampton allegedly offered his 3-month-old daughter to a maintenance man working outside in exchange for two 40-ounce beers.

The infant's mother, 31-year-old Wendy Arsenault, was inside the Pride store at the time.

Brace allegedly put the baby and a stroller in the worker's truck and said: "For two 40s, you can have her." The worker then called police.

Officers later found the couple at the nearby Econo Lodge, where the had been living on public assistance.

Chicopee Police Chief John Ferraro Jr. told 22News he is unsure if Brace was trying to exchange the baby for beers or for crack cocaine.

Brace was not arrested, but he was summoned to court on charges of reckless endangerment of a child. Sgt. Lareau said Arsenault was not involved in the crime.

22News spoke with Arsenault over the phone Tuesday morning. She said she had no idea what was going on because she was inside the store and that she would never put her baby in harm's way.

The infant girl is now in the state's custody.

Brace was scheduled to be arraigned in Chicopee District Court on Tuesday, but his court appearance has been postponed because he is in the hospital. Police refused to comment on why Brace was hospitalized.

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.wane.com/dpps/news/strange/cops-say-man-tries-to-trade-baby-for-beer-jgr_3365212

Gwinnett County News

4:26 p.m.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 

County dipping into employees' pockets for 16-year-old debt

About 180 Gwinnett County employees are being notified they were overpaid 16 years ago and it's time to make good on the advance. As part of its rejuvenated effort to go after every penny it's owed, the county is seeking to collect $39,690.46 from employees who received the bonus in their paychecks in 1994.

"Yes, the county has initiated a project to clean-up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations wherever possible," said Aaron Bovos, Gwinnett County chief financial officer.

The initiative is part of an on-going effort to better manage assets and resources, Bovos said. One of those projects includes collecting outstanding advances made to employees.

The payroll anomaly dates back to Sept. 30, 1994, when the county adjusted employee pay cycles. The adjustment resulted in shortening one pay period from a 14 days to 12 days. Under normal circumstances, employees who worked the shortened pay cycle would have received less pay, but to avoid financial hardship, paychecks were increased to counteract any shortfall.

In all, Gwinnett County overpaid 509 people a total of $114,876.55 that week.

Since then, the county has collected the overpayment from employee paychecks at retirement. So far, it has recovered $75,186.09 from 329 employees.

Bovos said this measure will allow the county to clear an account it has been carrying for 16 years.

Current employees who received the overpayment have several options to pay back the advance. They can apply it toward vacation leave or a floating holiday, or they can make a cash payment.

Gwinnett County is in the middle of other initiatives to clear its books. Staff is reviewing contracts with state and federal agencies for reimbursements relating to transportation projects or grants.

Timely submission of invoices and subsequent reimbursement to the county improves cash flows, Bovos said.

Anti-incumbent mood shown, but Dems say it could have been worse

Tuesday’s primaries in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania confirmed what lawmakers feared: The incumbency advantage at the ballot box doesn’t necessarily apply this year.

But Democrats, who came away with a critical win in a special election, said they were heartened by the fact that voter disenchantment cuts both ways.

“People are upset, and it shows no party bounds,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), architect of the Democratic takeover of the Senate in 2006 and the 60-seat majority of 2009.

Rand Paul, the Tea Party-backed insurgent who won the Senate Republican primary in Kentucky, demonstrated that the GOP establishment is just as vulnerable to voter anger.

And Democrat Mark Critz’s special-election victory over Republican Tim Burns in Pennsylvania’s 12th district provided a valuable lesson, Democrats said.

“For Democrats, the lesson is very simple: I think it is that people want us to focus on their problems,” Schumer told The Hill. “I don’t believe they want no government; I think they want a government that is lean but focuses on what is bothering them and helps fix it.”

Republicans countered that voters were expressing displeasure with Democrats’ massive spending spree since taking control of the White House.

“We got a fired-up country, fired up about taxes, spending, debt and Washington takeovers,” said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.). “It’s a message, above all other things, to get the debt under control.”

Democrats touted their relatively high turnout in all three states in an attempt to dispel the notion that the party base isn’t fired up. But in Pennsylvania, some say there’s a caveat: It is likely Critz benefited from the intense interest in the primary race between Sen. Arlen Specter (D) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D).

Critz stated his opposition to healthcare reform and cap-and-trade legislation and campaigned extensively on a jobs message. While Democrats enjoy a 2-to-1 registration advantage in the district, it was the only one in the country that voted for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for president in 2004 and backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the White House in 2008.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) acknowledged the loss was a setback and said the party needs to raise more money and get organized before November.

“It’s pretty clear that we have to organize and we’ve got to continue working on our agenda project. ... We’ve got to continue to raise resources,” Boehner told reporters.

It was the seventh special election Republicans have lost since President Barack Obama took office.

Republicans had tried to make the race about Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who are unpopular in the district, but Critz, a former Murtha staffer, won with a comfortable margin, 53 percent to 45.

Boehner said his party has had a tough time winning these special elections given “the financial disadvantage we have now,” noting that “we’ve got to do better.”

Alexander called the special election in Pennsylvania a “disappointment.” “We’ll have to learn from that,” he said.

Still, Democrats could hardly celebrate outright.

The primary defeat of 30-year incumbent Specter and the failure of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the Arkansas primary — forcing her into a June 8 runoff — shows that voters won’t blindly pull the lever for incumbents.

“There is an anti-incumbent sense,” said Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), who campaigned with Critz. “That’s natural whenever the economy is stressed like it is — I think you’re going to see that.”

Republicans argue the anti-incumbent sentiment is more damaging to Democrats because they control more seats in Congress.

But Democrats say they have learned an important lesson that will guide them over the next five and a half months.

“I think what most people are telling us, whether we’re an incumbent or an incumbent who happens to be running, is that we have to focus intensively on job creation and job preservation,” said Casey.

Democrats pledged a laser-like focus on jobs and the economy after they lost control of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts.

But they have not passed much in the way of jobs legislation. Obama signed a modest $18 billion jobs bill into law in March.

But Democrats have redoubled their efforts to frame a landmark healthcare reform law as an economy-boosting accomplishment and have focused on the job-creating potential of energy and climate change legislation

Schumer said the Democratic jobs message is having “some” impact on voters and “we’ve got to do more of it.”

Molly K. Hooper contributed to this report.

Linda Nguyen

Canwest News Service

May 17, 2010

Kane County coroner indicted in TV theft

May 18, 2010 11:30 PM

Chicago Tribune

Since his election as Kane County coroner in 2000, Chuck West has developed a reputation for being talkative and outspoken.

But on Tuesday night, a few hours after he was indicted on felony charges, accused of allowing a dead man's TV to end up in a house shared by two deputy coroners, West was uncharacteristically hard to find.

In announcing misconduct charges, for which West faces up to five years in prison, a special prosecutor alleged that he "intentionally and recklessly failed to perform his mandated duties in his official capacity in that he failed to dispose of valuable personal property of Preston Pomykal."

That personal property was Pomykal's 24-inch Magnavox TV/DVD/VCR, which was in Pomykal's home in May 2007 when Carpentersville police found him dead on his bathroom floor of what was later deemed natural causes. Special prosecutor Charles Colburn declined to identify the two deputy coroners who  wound up with the television.

A handful of deputies work in the coroner's office, one of whom is West's son, Eric. Eric West declined comment Tuesday night,  referring questions to Chuck West's attorney, Gary Johnson, a former Kane County State's Attorney.

After allegations against West first surfaced last summer, the coroner  said publicly that he took possession of the television set  when authorities were unable to locate next of kin for Pomykal, 64. Efforts to reach West on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

"He didn't do anything wrong," said Johnson, West's attorney. "The indictment itself is like opening Al Capone's vault. There's nothing inside."

The charges against West prompted Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughy to urge West to step down, at least temporarily, until the criminal case is resolved.

"This will be a huge distraction to the people who work for him," she said.

Johnson immediately shot down the suggestion. West, 67, has said he will not seek re-election when his third term ends in 2012.

"He's not going to resign," Johnson said, adding that the matter could have been resolved informally by "making a phone call."

"Once the public and a jury see the facts of this case, they're going to see that this is much ado about nothing. He is going to be acquitted."

West would be fired only if he is convicted of a felony, Kane County Board Attorney Ken Shepro said, or if a court rules that he is unable to carry out the duties of his office.

"He's an independently elected official," Shepro said. "The county board has no authority at all over his term of office."

But West's standing as an elected official presents the county with a sticky legal situation.

By law, the Kane County State's Attorney's office represents West. However, when allegations against West first came to light, Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti, seeking to avoid a conflict of interest, called the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor to investigate and advised West that he was unable to provide him legal counsel.

Johnson said that since the charges against West arise from his elected office, the public should pay his legal fees. The attorney added that he was drafting a letter to Barsanti making the request. Barsanti said a judge likely would decide whether West or the taxpayers should pick up the legal tab for his defense.

The Carpentersville  police report on Pomykal's death states that "the only relative (the investigating officer) was able to identify was his father, who is also deceased. The coroner's office advised that they would continue to attempt to locate them."

In addition to the  television set, authorities found several firearms in Pomykal's home, Carpentersville Police Commander Timothy Bosshart said. West asked the police to store the firearms, Bosshart said.

In August 2007 West sent a letter to the Carpentersville Police Department stating that the agency could destroy the weapons, Bosshart said.

Several months ago, the Kane County Sheriff's office received a complaint about the coroner's office's possible violation of the "whistleblower act," Sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said. Authorities forwarded the complaint to the special prosecutor, but  Gengler declined to say whether it was related to Tuesday's charges.

"This (the TV complaint) is the only information that we have found that has resulted in criminal charges at this point," Colburn, the special prosecutor, said.

Authorities will serve West with a summons to attend a May 27 court hearing, Barsanti said.

-- Clifford Ward and Ted Gregory