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Spoiling children with sweets linked to violence in adulthood

Children given sweets or chocolate every day are more likely to grow into aggressive adults, according to a new study.

 

Richard Alleyne

Telegraph UK

Science Correspondent
6:30AM BST 01 Oct 2009

Researchers found that preteens who regularly ate the confectionaries were much more likely to have a conviction for violent crime by the time they reached their mid thirties.

Psychiatrists believe that spoiling or assuaging youngsters with treats may lead to an inability to deal with not getting what they want in later life. This in turn could lead to frustration and anger.

The study, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to examine the long-term effects of childhood diet on adult violence. It suggests that a better diet could lead to better behaviour later in life.

The findings come from the 1970 British Cohort Study, a project following the lives of 17,500 people born in April 1970.

It found that 10-year-olds who ate confectionery daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence before the age of 34.

Researchers from Cardiff University found that 69 per cent of the participants who were violent at that age had eaten sweets and chocolate nearly every day during childhood, compared to 42 per cent who were non-violent.

The link between confectionery consumption and violence remained after taking into account other factors.

Dr Simon Moore, lead researcher, said: “Our favoured explanation is that giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want.

“Not being able to defer gratification may push them towards more impulsive behaviour, which is strongly associated with delinquency.”

But he admits that the exact link is still unclear.

Dr Moore said another possibility is the additives in sweets themselves causing problems with attention and delinquency. But he felt it was more likely the way they are acquired that affected behaviour.

“If parents give their children sweets for attention seeking behaviour, or to prevent bad behaviour, they could be encouraging them to act out more. More research is needed here, but this is the most interesting mechanism.

“We looked at the decision making style and believe children given sweets on demand become risk takers rather than risk avoiders.”

Now researchers believe improving children’s diets may help controlling aggression and reducing violent behaviour.

The researchers concluded: “This association between confectionery consumption and violence needs further attention.

“Targeting resources at improving children’s diet may improve health and reduce aggression.”

5-year-old Goodrich boy's kill: a gator 20 times his size

There are hunters who go a lifetime dreaming of that big kill. Then there's Simon Hughes, who helped nab a beast of an animal on an East Texas hunt — while still in the first grade. The 5-year-old boy from Goodrich was part of a hunting crew that recently killed an 800-pound, 12-foot-6-inch alligator that has wildlife experts shaking their heads.

The reptile, whose size is at a state record level, is now at the taxidermist waiting to be mounted. Simon's family, meanwhile, is fielding calls from CNN and Good Morning America to feature his exploits.

Simon learned to drive all-terrain vehicles and shoot firearms when he was only 4. So he was primed and ready to go on an alligator hunt this past weekend with his father, Scott Hughes, a sixth-generation rancher, and hunting guide Chuck Cotton.

Simon had a new junior-sized .410-gauge shotgun. His first gun had been too big, having a recoil that opened a small cut below one eye after he fired it.

Neither his father nor mother worry about Simon using firearms, because he has been taught gun safety since he was big enough to walk and stand in a deer blind.

“That's the way it is in rural areas,” Scott Hughes said. “We don't think of guns as playthings or something used in videogames.”

By the time of the alligator hunt, Simon could shoot clay pigeons.

Polk County Sheriff Kenneth Hammack, a former Texas Ranger, has been bird hunting with Simon and said he shoots pretty well for his age. “Of course, you always keep an eye on children,” said Hammack, “but he's learned a lot from his father.”

Scott had obtained a state permit to kill two of the 40 alligators populating his 5,000-acre spread near Lake Livingston because he knew something “real big was out there” and driving small alligators from the swampy areas and into his stock ponds.

State law requires alligators be caught on a baited hook or shot with a bow and arrow. So they baited a hook on Saturday with some “smelly armadillo roadkill,” which apparently alligators adore.

When they returned the next day, the line was taut. Something had been snared and was resting beneath the dark 4-foot-deep waters.

‘Never afraid for a second'

The hunters soon discovered their catch was an alligator. They attached it to an all-terrain vehicle with a sturdy line, but the gator proved so strong it almost dragged their vehicle into the water.

Finally, the animal, after thrashing and rolling, surfaced a second time, and Simon, poised 5 feet away, fired the first and what proved to be fatal shot. Cotton, just to be sure, fired one more shot at the giant reptile, which had managed to rip the hook out of its mouth.

Simon said he screamed “holy moly” when he saw the catch of the day. “I was never afraid for a second,” he said of the gator, which is 20 times his size.

Taxidermist Stephen Moye said the head of the 12-foot- 6-inch reptile weighs 104 pounds by itself.

A state wildlife biologist estimated the gator's weight at more than 800 pounds. Finding an alligator of such size is rare, state officials said. Although the record length for a Texas alligator exceeds Simon's kill by 1 foot and 8 inches, the record weight for a gator killed on state property is only 690 pounds, records showed.

Simon, meanwhile, has shown pictures of the gator to his classmates in Good­rich, near Lake Livingston, but that won't be nearly as impressive as when he can bring the mounted head to show-and-tell and display its ferocious 12-inch bite.

“My friends were proud of me, and I was proud of myself,” Simon said of the photos that show him standing alongside the monstrous gator. “It's humongous!”

 

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid29266405001?bctid=42889665001

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.kptv.com/entertainment/21155932/detail.html

York City woman pins burglar until police arrive

ELIZABETH EVANS The York Dispatch Updated: 09/30/2009 11:32:32 AM EDT
 

Tina Graham, shown Tuesday in the yard of her York City home, found an intruder in the home early Sunday morning. She jumped on the man and pinned him against the chain-link fence after he dragged her outside. She hung on until police arrived to make an arrest. (Doug Bauman photo)  

 

Tina Graham doesn't understand why people are so fascinated that she dove on a burglar and hung onto him until police arrived.

"To me, it was just what I had to do," the 40-year-old York City woman said. "Everyone's making such a big deal about it. I didn't know it would be this big."

Graham said she was sleeping in her North Hartman Street home about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a noise awakened her. Normally, her boyfriend Daniel Arnold and their Pomeranian would have been with her, but they'd gone to visit a friend in Gettysburg, she said.

"I'd taken the phone to bed with me," Graham said. "I snuck downstairs and noticed a light coming from the kitchen -- like a flashlight. I looked around the corner, saw the (back) door open and called

Kornbau ... faces several charges related to the break-in. 911."

That's when she walked around the corner and told the intruder, "You're going to jail."

"He tried to go out the door he came in," Graham said. "But I just jumped on him. I didn't even think about it. I've never done anything like that, never been put in a situation where you almost feel like you're fighting for your life."

Failed break-ins: Graham said someone had tried to break into her home twice in the past three months, on July 5 and again on Aug. 23. Both times, York City Police collected fingerprints but were unable to match them to a suspect, she said.

"I was just fed up," Graham said. "All I could think about was, if he gets away, police still won't be able to find him. The adrenaline takes over, and the fear takes over."

Graham said she grabbed Brian Jay Kornbau around the waist and he dragged her outside into her yard.

She held on, though, and used her 140 pounds of body weight to pin the 5-foot-11, 160-pound man against her chain-link fence.

"He kept begging me to let him go, but I said, 'You're not getting away this time,'" Graham said. "He beat on me the whole time. He was punching and kicking me. ... He bit me in the shoulder and he elbowed me in the mouth."

Graham said she was left with three loose teeth as a result. Thankfully, she said, his bite did not pierce her skin.

"I just did the best I could and prayed to God to give me strength," she said. "Somehow, I held onto him. I was really scared, but it was either him or me."

Locked up: Arriving York City officers arrested Kornbau, 39, of 1394 Lancaster Ave. in Spring Garden Township. He remains in York County Prison on $25,000 bail, charged with burglary, simple assault, criminal trespass, attempted burglary and possessing instruments of crime.

Officers seemed surprised by Graham's actions, she said.

"They were like, 'We're so proud of you. You did a great job,'" she said.

Charging documents state the officers found two screwdrivers and a pocketknife on Kornbau when they searched him.

"I didn't know that until the police told me," Graham said.

The documents also state that Kornbau admitted he tried to break into Graham's home on July 5 and Aug. 23.

Sore, but proud: Graham had never seen Kornbau before and said she has no idea why he targeted her home. He graduated from York Suburban Senior High School in 1988 with her boyfriend, who said Kornbau was "always weird," she said.

Graham said she's sore and "pretty banged up from the scuffle," and that her screams for help left her hoarse. But she feels good about what she did.

"It's still hard for me to believe I did it," she said.

Graham feels sorry for Kornbau's children and parents.

"He's embarrassed his whole family," she said. "I'd like to know how he'd feel if it was his daughter or his mother in my position."

Cops: 'Desperate' man suspected of robbery turns himself in

Tony Max Olea, Jr. (Port Orange Police / September 29, 2009)

Kevin P. Connolly

Sentinel Staff Writer

3:11 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2009

 

A "desperate" man suspected of robbing a bank in Volusia County today turned himself in 18 minutes later by calling 911 on himself, police said.

Tony Max Olea, Jr. called 911 at about 10:48 a.m., identified himself and told the operator he had just robbed a bank and he wanted to turn himself in, Port Orange police said.

Olea, 42, was on the phone with the operator when authorities arrived a short time later at the Chevron gas station at State Road 44 and Interstate 95 in New Smyrna Beach, police said.

A Port Orange detective and the Volusia County Sheriff's Department found money stolen from the Colonial Bank inside Olea's vehicle, a black 2006 Volkswagen Jetta, police said.

A teller who was brought to the gas station also "positively identified" Olea as the bank-robbery suspect, police said.

Olea, of 3009 Lime Tree Drive, Edgewater, was arrested on a robbery charge and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he is being held on a $20,000 bond, police said.

At about 10:30 a.m., a man entered the bank at 900 Village Trail in Port Orange and handed the bank teller a note that implied that he had a firearm.

"He demanded that the bank teller put all of the money in a bag, and he relayed to the bank teller that he was "desperate," a police statement said.

"The bank teller handed an undisclosed amount of money to the unidentified white male along with a dye pack. The unidentified white male was last observed driving from the area in a black in color vehicle,'' the statement said.

It's unclear if the dye pack went off.

UM researcher faces drug charges after death of girlfriend

Doctor who studied effects of narcotics died after using 'bupe'

Nick Madigan 

Baltimore Sun reporter

9:53 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2009

 

Clinton McCracken, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Maryland medical school, is facing drug charges after his live-in girlfriend, also a researcher at the university, died of an apparent overdose. (Photo courtesy of Baltimore City police)

 

Clinton McCracken and Carrie John knew all about addictions and obsessive behavior.

Both worked as postdoctoral research fellows at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and earlier this year published their conclusions from a study of "compulsions and habit formation."

But their research might have taken too personal a turn.

John, 29, a Wake Forest University graduate with a doctorate in physiology and pharmacology, died Sunday after apparently injecting herself with what McCracken called a "bad" batch of buprenorphine, a narcotic known on the street as "bupe" and commonly used to treat heroin addiction.

McCracken, 32, was arrested after police searched the couple's unkempt rowhouse on Dover Street in Baltimore and found a large quantity of drugs, including pills, "huge gardens" of marijuana with an elaborate lighting system and "more than 20 bongs in all shapes, sizes and configurations strewn about the home," a police report said.

In an interview with detectives, McCracken -- a fellow Wake Forest graduate charged with six counts, including manufacturing drugs and possession with intent to distribute -- said that for the past two or three years he had used the New Mikee Online Pharmacy, a Web site based in the Philippines, to buy "various narcotics for recreational use." He mentioned not only buprenorphine but morphine, OxyContin and marijuana. The firm did not respond to an e-mail message from The Baltimore Sun seeking comment.

McCracken said he and his girlfriend had purchased 20 buprenorphine pills at $2 each and had dissolved a 2-milligram pill in water, placing half the solution in each of two syringes, the report said. John "began to have trouble breathing" immediately after injecting herself, McCracken told police.

He called paramedics and "never got to inject himself with his own 1 mg. dose due to the deceased's medical crisis," the police report said. "The defendant stated that he thought they could control the morphine and buprenorphine."

John was pronounced dead shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday in the University of Maryland Medical Center's emergency room, a few blocks from her home.

John and McCracken conducted scientific research in the labs of the university's department of anatomy and neurobiology and did not see patients, said Karen A. Buckelew, a spokeswoman for the medical school. John had worked there since 2006 and McCracken for the past three months.

"Dr. McCracken is still employed here, and no administrative action has been taken yet to affect his employment status," Buckelew said.

Police seized the drugs and paraphernalia from the couple's home, and McCracken was released Monday night on $100,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing Oct. 9.

"He probably didn't kill her," said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Baltimore police, noting that there were no signs of foul play. But he said he found it ironic that "two pharmacy Ph.Ds were ordering drugs from an online pharmacy" overseas.

Such long-distance purchases are an increasingly common way of obtaining drugs that in the United States are either illegal, considered too expensive or available only by prescription. McCracken and John arranged to have their imports hidden in stuffed toys or disguised alongside toys and trinkets, Guglielmi said.

"We will be conferring with federal authorities" such as the Drug Enforcement Administration as to the legal ramifications of having drugs sent from abroad, Guglielmi said. "I think they'll be interested in talking to Mr. McCracken."

Guglielmi, who worked previously at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., said that online pharmacies present a grave risk to public safety.

"These potent drugs are regulated for a reason," he said, "and people shouldn't shortcut the medical process and self-?smedicate."

Introduced in 2003, buprenorphine -- prescribed as Suboxone for treatment of addiction -- is often misused, according to a series of articles in The Baltimore Sun in December 2007. Health officials said addicts were injecting or snorting the narcotic to mute cravings for heroin and opiate-based pain pills such as OxyContin.

Experts said bupe is safer than methadone -- the traditional heroin treatment, normally given out under close supervision -- and more likely to appeal to addicts because they can get bupe from their doctors. Some patients sell the pills on the street for up to $50 each, said Michael Gimbel, former director of Baltimore County's Bureau of Substance Abuse.

"Because [the pills] are expensive, many people have turned to the Internet to purchase bupe from other countries and getting them much cheaper," Gimbel said. "Obviously, quality is not guaranteed, and that may be what killed the doctor."

On the street, bupe pills are known as "subbies" or "stop signs," an allusion to their hexagon-like shape. Fatalities have been reported in India, Pakistan and other countries as a result of black-market bupe, which is usually mixed with some kind of tranquilizer and injected.

In the 600 block of Dover, a tree-lined cobblestone street near the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, the sight of a police canine unit outside John and McCracken's rented two-story rowhouse Sunday night took some neighbors by surprise.

"There's never been any problem like this," said Kofi Kyei-Asare, a 13-year resident who owns four houses on the block. "This is always a very quiet street and extremely safe," he said, describing it as populated mainly by young professionals.

There was no sign of activity Tuesday evening at the house in which the couple lived, and no one answered the door. The couple's dog, a black Labrador mix, was taken to an animal shelter after McCracken's arrest.

"To me, they were just normal, regular people," said landlord Kevin Jarrell, who lives elsewhere. Jarrell rented the house to John a couple of years ago, he said, and McCracken moved in recently.

Asked if he had known what was going on inside the house, Jarrell said, "Of course not."

In their online biographies, McCracken and John emerge as accomplished scientists. McCracken's area of expertise is addiction and compulsive behaviors, according to the Neuroscience Academic Family Tree.

John's available record is more extensive. In 2004, while at Wake Forest, she wrote a paper on the effect of cocaine on serotonin levels in mice, and, that same year, another paper on the "acute and neurotoxic effects of psychostimulants."

Last year, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, John led medical students in a neuroscience discussion titled "This is your brain on drugs."

Baltimore Sun reporter Jonathan Pitts contributed to this article.

 

RELATED STORY PHOTO OF CARRIE JOHN:

http://www.foxbaltimore.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wbff_vid_1609.shtml

Stuart woman arrested on marijuana possession charge at St. Lucie County courthouse

Tyler Treadway

TC Palm

September 22, 2009 at 5:32 p.m.

 

Chantel Johnson

 

FORT PIERCE — A word to the wise: If you’re planning to bring marijuana into the St. Lucie County Courthouse, don’t put it in the same satchel as a pocket knife, a razor, a pair of scissors and a padlock.

According to a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office report, Chantel Marissa Johnson, 21, of the 800 block of southeast 16th Street in Stuart, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday when a small bag containing the drug was found in her purse at the entrance of the courthouse.

W.R. “Randy” Stringham, one of a team of private security officers who check people entering the courthouse, said he saw the razor, knife, scissors and padlock as Johnson’s purse went through a scanning device, so he decided to check the rest of its contents.

“I dumped out the purse, and it fell out,” Stringham said, referring to a small plastic bag with what he called in his report “green leafy material.”

Stringham said he knew it was marijuana because of his experience as a former Florida Highway Patrol trooper and New York correctional officer; a field test later confirmed he was correct, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.

Johnson remained “cool and calm” when he found the marijuana, Stringham said, telling a woman with her, “I forgot that was there.”

Two sheriff’s deputies in the courthouse arrested Johnson, who was released from the St. Lucie County Jail after posting $500 bond.

Burglar must repay victim for time in court

Bob Egelko

Chronicle Staff Writer

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

(09-28) 16:36 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- In a broad interpretation of a law requiring criminals to make restitution to their victims, a state appeals court has ordered a Northern California burglar to repay a homeowner for the wages he gave up by attending every court hearing in the case.

The court, observing that burglary can make people feel they are unsafe in their own homes, said Jason Lee Moore owes something to the victim who attempted to heal his psyche by attending all 50 hours of court proceedings.

To be exact, Moore owes the man $6,250.

Moore was sentenced to 10 years, eight months in prison for breaking into a doctor's home in Redding and stealing items in February 2008. The doctor wasn't a witness to the burglary and attended Moore's pretrial hearings and two-day trial on his own.

The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said the doctor's lost pay, calculated at $125 an hour, was covered by a state law that requires criminals to compensate their victims for all economic losses caused by the crime.

"A victim's attendance at trial cannot be characterized as a paid vacation," Presiding Justice Arthur Scotland said in the 3-0 ruling, issued Wednesday. In this case, he said, "the victim felt that his children's sense of sanctuary and safety were stolen" and that going to court would help him heal.

Scotland noted a ruling last year that upheld restitution to a murder victim's parents for the time they lost at work while attending the trial of their son's killer. That principle isn't limited to murder cases, he said, but applies to crimes in which the victims are psychologically harmed.

Moore's lawyer, Richard Fitzer, said Monday that he would appeal.

It's reasonable to order compensation to crime victims for the cost of attending a trial, Fitzer said, but the court should exclude the cost of attending routine hearings.

"I can see why a victim of a burglary would want to come to the actual trial and sentencing, but why would you want to come to pretrial motions?" Fitzer said. "There's nothing to limit the amount of money they seek to get."

Moore is broke, he said, and will have a hard time paying restitution after his release.

The state has a compensation fund, supported by criminals' fines, that partially reimburses victims of violent crimes for their financial losses.

Deputy Attorney General Paul O'Connor said the ruling was a helpful precedent. Even though no one was physically injured in the burglary, he said, "it shows there were victims."

 

 

LINK TO RULING:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/C060618.PDF

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/6242644/The-worlds-oldest-cities.html

Parents Lie to Children Surprisingly Often

Jeanna Bryner

Life Science

Senior Writer

29 September 2009 08:09 am ET

Parents might say "honesty is the best policy," but when it comes to interacting with their own kids, mom and dad stretch the truth with the best of them, finds a new study.

From claiming the existence of magical creatures to odd consequences of kids' actions, parents often come up with creative tales to shape a child's behaviors and emotions.

"We are surprised by how often parenting by lying takes place," said study researcher Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, Canada. "Our findings showed that even the parents who most strongly promoted the importance of honesty with their children engaged in parenting by lying."

Lee and colleagues acknowledge that their work is preliminary, bringing to the forefront an issue that is rarely studied. They are not sure the implications of parental lying, but suggest such tall tales could give kids mixed messages at a time when they are trying to figure out how to navigate the social world.

Lies could also harm parent-child bonds, said study researcher Gail Heyman of the University of California, San Diego.

It could even keep children from learning certain rules. "If I am always lying to the child in order to get the child to do X, Y, or Z, then they have never learned why they should do X, Y, or Z," said Victoria Talwar of McGill University in Montreal, who was not involved in the current study. "If it's constantly being used, [lying] may be preventing learning opportunities for the child."

The scientists also acknowledge that it's sometimes okay to be less than truthful with a child, say, telling a fib about how beautiful a scribbled drawing looks. But Heyman urges parents to think through the issues and consider alternatives before resorting to the expedient prevarication.

The research is published in the September issue of the Journal of Moral Education and was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Creating Buttons and Badges in Adobe Photoshop is easy. There are different kinds of tutorials related in making buttons and badges on the web that can help enhance your photoshop skills. We collected some of the best sources so you can bookmark them.

 

http://naldzgraphics.net/tutorials/40-best-photoshop-tutorials-for-creating-buttons-and-badges/

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/weird/Freaks-of-Nature-52528842.html

South African man marries 4 women at same ceremony

A South African man married four women at the same time on Saturday.

 

Published: 7:30AM BST 28 Sep 2009

South African law recognises traditional polygamous marriages Photo: AP

Milton Mbhele showed up for his wedding in Weenen, near Ladysmith, in a white limousine - with four brides.

The women in white gowns each received rings and a kiss from the groom at a ceremony attended by hundreds of people. On Sunday, the families gathered for a second traditional Zulu wedding and planned to exchange gifts on Monday.

South African law recognises traditional polygamous marriages - even President Jacob Zuma has three wives. Yet while polygamy remains common among several tribes including the Zulus and Swazis, simultaneous weddings are rare.

Mr Mbhele, 44, a municipal manager in Indaka, said the joint celebration saved money by combining the festivities.

He has already been married to Thobile Vilakazi for 12 years and has 11 children, but did not specify who their mothers are.

"I want her to be happy," he said of Ms Vilakazi, who was given a golden wristwatch at Saturday's ceremony. "I think getting married to her for the second time would make her happy since I will be taking in three other wives so this will relieve her in some way."

His "middle wives" - as he described them - are Zanele Langa and Happiness Mdlolo, both 24.

The youngest wife, 23-year-old Smangele Cele, said she was looking forward to marrying Mr Mbhele, even though it means she'll have to share him. She said the wives planned to live separately, with their husband rotating between them.

"It is because of the way in which he shows his love for me. He loves me in all ways," she said, adding: "We will not be living in the same house and we take each other as friends."

Wrong Roof Accidentally Removed from Florida Home

WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- David Fischer's vacation was cut short this summer with a phone call from a roofing company, "that 'oops, we accidentally ripped off your roof,'" he says.

Fischer came back to his home in Breakers West to find, sure enough, his roof was gone.

The company, Bossler Roofing, Inc. says it was simply a mistake.

Instead of doing work on Fischer's two story home, the company was supposed to replace the roof on his neighbor's one story home two doors down.

It's a mistake Fischer doesn't understand.

Fischer asks, "Its a big difference in size, so how you mixing these two houses?"

The 76-year old admits he did get an estimate from Bossler Roofing but never signed a contract.

The company's attorney, Joseph Rodowicz says it's unclear how this mistake happened.

He tells NewsChannel 5, "You know, quite frankly, I don't know. I don't know what took place on that day...but in the end we simply acknowledge that there was a mistake."

It is not only the mix-up that burns Fischer up, it's that two months later his roof still has no tiles.

Now, his insurance company is threatening to cancel his policy Monday if the roof isn't replaced and he claims Bossler refuses to do the work.

Fischer says, "My feeling is they just playing games they trying to take advantage because I'm an old person."

Rodowicz explains that Bossler is happy to give Fischer a new roof at a discount.

All he'll have to pay is his insurance deductible.

"So, he's coming out ahead even with what stands on the table," Rodowicz says.

But Fischer says Bossler is at fault for this eyesore and he is standing his ground.

"Finish it! Put the tile on and finish it," he demands.

Bossler has an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Rodowicz calls this an isolated incident, saying Bossler is still a trustworthy company.

Fischer is considering filing a lawsuit.

 

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?storyid=145581&provider=rss

Police Cite Dog Walkers Along Kapiolani Park

Authorities Say Recent Complaints Sparked Crackdown

POSTED: 9:04 pm HST September 25, 2009
UPDATED: 9:07 pm HST September 25, 2009

KITV ABC 4

HONOLULU -- Police cited people walking their dogs on leashes Friday on a sidewalk beside Waikiki Beach with a criminal offense that carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail or a $500 fine or both. 

Dan Falardeau walks his dog, Joey, seven days a week. On Friday, two police officers stopped Falardeau.

"The officers told me that I was being ticketed for having my dog in a city park, and I tried to explain to them that I am on the sidewalk because I walk through here every single day, and couldn't I get a warning and they said, 'This was on the order of the mayor's office,'" Falardeau said.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann's office said there was no directive from it to ticket dog owners.

Waikiki police said they are ticketing because of many complaints about dogs in Kapiolani Park. They said they warned some dog owners on Thursday.

The pathway where Falardeau was walking his dog is actually part of Kapiolani Park and different from a regular sidewalk. There are signs warning no animals allowed. Police ticketed three other women walking their dogs on leashes on the same sidewalk along the park Friday.

The citation is for a criminal offense, a petty misdemeanor prohibiting animals in parks. It requires a court appearance.

"I keep him on a leash. I pick up his poop. He's got a license and I don't quite understand this and now he's a criminal," Falardeau said.

Regular beachgoer Patrice Scott said she was surprised by the crackdown on leashed dogs.

I just think it is crazy. How could you get a ticket for walking your dog? I don't understand," she said. "Seems like there are a lot of better things to be writing people up for like speeding."

Other dog walkers KITV spoke with called the ticketing "ridiculous."