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2 fired from Broomfield Best Buy for tackling shoplifter

Internet addiction treatment center opens in Fall City

JANE MCCARTHY 

KING 5 News

08:23 AM PDT on Tuesday, August 18, 2009

FALL CITY, Wash. - China, South Korea and Japan have several already. Now, the first in-patient treatment center for Internet addiction is launching in Fall City.

And it already has its first patient: a 19-year-old whose parents tried everything before finding this program.

Ben Alexander is a long way from his home in Iowa City. At the reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program, he feels a world away from his gaming addiction.

"My game of choice was 'World of Warcraft,'" said Alexander.

He played so much, it started affecting his schoolwork.

"I'd have all these rationalizations of, well, it's not a big deal to just miss this one class," he said.

One class turned into several and he eventually withdrew from college.

KING

Ben Alexander, 19, of Iowa City is Restart's first patient.

"I would play until I fell asleep on my keyboard," he said.

His parents struggled to find appropriate help.  Initially, he went to a substance and alcohol abuse program, even though he didn't have that kind of addiction.

"It was kind of hard to really relate to the other people there," he said.

His parents finally found reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program, which sprawls over 5-acres.  It's the first of its kind in the U.S., specifically aimed at treating people who are addicted to the Internet.

Co-founder Cosette Rae saw the need in her job as a social worker.

"Concerns like their children would be gaming 16, 17 hours a day; that they stopped bathing; that they would just eat at the computer," said Rae.

Rae launched the  new six-bed facility with Dr. Hilarie Cash, who specializes in Internet addiction. The 45-day program works to launch tech-addicted people back into the real world.

"What are they avoiding?  What are they using the Internet to numb out for?" said Rae.

Alexander was once interested in biology and animals, so now he helps with taking care of the goats, chickens and other animals on the reSTART property.  Cross country running is also something Alexander used to enjoy 'pre-gaming', so it is again part of his daily routine at reSTART.

Alexander knows the internet will likely be a part of life down the road, but he believes he's finally found a balance in Fall City.

"I'm not able to say, oh, I'm never going to be online ever again," he said.  "But at this point I'm not really worried about it."

The reSTART Center offers individualized plans to treat a number of Internet issues.

The program is not covered by insurance and runs about $14,500 for 45 days.  They do have a few scholarships available now, based upon need.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_081809WAB-internet-addiction-center-LJ.f1222024.html?rss

The Maryland Gazette

As word spread of his imaginative marriage proposal last Friday, Jon Cardin has been the toast of the town this week.

With the help of a friend, Cardin concocted a plan to surprise his girlfriend, Megan Homer, but even the hubby-to-be wasn't in on all the details.

The couple was invited to a happy hour cruise on the Inner Harbor aboard the buddy's boat where Cardin was to pop the question. But not without some drama.

Cardin's friend told him not to fret if "some people" boarded the boat during the cruise — that it was all part of the plan. So there they were, enjoying the company of friends, when a boat and helicopter from the Baltimore City Police Department converged on the vessel under the guise that there were reports of contraband aboard.

Understandably, Homer was startled and worried that she would be detained, even though she knew there was nothing illegal on board, Cardin said.

"I knew that we were not going to get in trouble, but I think she thought we were going to get arrested," he said.

After a brief search, an officer pointed to a box on the deck behind Homer and asked her what was inside. She turned back around and responded that she didn't know. The officer then told Homer to turn around as if to slap on handcuffs.

When she did as told, Cardin was on bended knee with ring in hand. Once Homer's heart started beating again, she said "yes."

Cardin, who knew the cops delighted in practical jokes from a high school senior project he did with the city police department's marine unit some 20 years ago, made sure to note that there was no abuse of public resources. The police's involvement was only to take place if they were not on assignment, he said.

The bride and groom have not yet set a wedding date and are "just enjoying the moment" for now, Cardin said Thursday in Ocean City, where he was to hold an evening fundraiser that has some speculating about a possible run for Baltimore County executive next year.

Here's betting the couple will wait until after November 2010 to tie the knot.

LINK TO AUDIO OF POLICE COMMISSIONER:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-bealefeld-cardin-mp30818,0,7022871.mp3file

                                   Update

Police upset that officers were used in lawmaker's marriage proposal prank

Peter Hermann

Baltimore Sun

6:33 p.m. EDT, August 17, 2009

City police are investigating why on-duty marine and helicopter officers helped a Baltimore County state delegate propose to his girlfriend by pretending to raid a boat the couple were aboard, a department spokesman said Monday.

Officers boarded the boat, owned by a friend of Del. Jon S. Cardin, Aug. 7 in the Inner Harbor. As the helicopter Foxtrot hovered overhead, adding to the sense of tension, one report says officers pretended to search the vessel and even had the woman thinking she was about to be handcuffed before the delegate got on one knee and proposed.

Megan Homer said yes.

Baltimore police did not find the account of the pretend raid amusing or charming.

Police said they are investigating what appears to be a misuse of police resources at a time when the budget-strapped department is begging for private donations to keep its horseback unit running and is immersed in investigating the latest violence at the Inner Harbor -- a double shooting inside the Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace over the weekend. Residents and visitors have complained that police presence is thin at best.

"Definitely there was some poor judgment exercised by some officers," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman. "The Police Department is not in the business of renting out the helicopter and the boats for bachelor parties and birthdays. We're in the business of upholding public safety in Baltimore."

Del. Curtis S. "Curt" Anderson, D-Baltimore and chairman of the city delegation to Annapolis, said he is appalled by the apparent indiscretion and angry that officers both in the air and on the water diverted from their primary mission of protecting citizens against crime.

"How in the world did he get something like that?" Anderson said of Cardin, also a Democrat. "If I wanted to do this myself, I wouldn't have the first clue as to how to get that accomplished. This is totally astonishing that a state delegate, especially one from Baltimore County, could commandeer the forces of the Baltimore City Police Department like that. It's a big waste of the city's money if that actually happened."

Cardin, an attorney who represents Northwest Baltimore and is the nephew of U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, did not return several calls Monday. The U.S. senator was not aboard the boat; a spokeswoman said he was out of town with his granddaughter.

In a statement, Delegate Cardin gave a toned-down account of the proposal, reported Friday in the Gazette newspapers, which dealt with the news as a whimsical "reporters notebook" item. Cardin described the actions by police as a "5-minute safety check." He did not mention the helicopter, which police confirmed was used.

Cardin's statement says that during the "fuss" of the police involvement, "I surprised her with my proposal and she honored me with her answer of 'yes.'" It continued: "During the evening, I was focused on making my fiancee's night perfect. In retrospect, I should have considered that city resources would be involved and used better judgment to put a stop to it."

The delegate promised to contact Baltimore police and to "reimburse the city for whatever costs they deem appropriate."

The Gazette article says Cardin and a friend dreamed up the idea. It is not clear who made the request to Baltimore police for help with the surprise; Guglielmi said that no one in the command staff was aware that police resources were being used for a party for a state lawmaker.

The police spokesman said that the marine unit -- whose members complained earlier this year that the city was endangering the public by grounding them over the winter and spring because of budget cuts -- was patrolling the water at the time the mock raid was conducted, and that the helicopter was already flying over the harbor area.

"There was no drain on the resources of the department," Guglielmi said, adding that the financial cost to citizens is negligible because the officers were already in the area and on duty. But the spokesman did say the officers should not have allowed themselves to be distracted from their duties for a friend or a politician. A figure for how much it costs per hour to keep the helicopter flying was not available Monday.

"Most officers want to help out and engage with the public," Guglielmi said, though he readily admitted that helping a politician with a surprise party is not the same as letting a civilian pet a horse or allowing a child to sit in a patrol car. "I think there was no malice with this. I think the officers were trying to be good stewards in the department, but I don't think good judgment was used."

The upbeat Gazette article, titled "Police: There weren't more important things to do," makes light of the proposal and says that, "With the help of a friend, Cardin concocted a plan to surprise his girlfriend" and that "even the hubby-to-be wasn't in on all the details."

According to the story, officers pretended to search the boat and found a box that they suspected contained contraband. They ordered the soon-to-be fiancee to turn around as if they were about to handcuff her, according the report, and then she saw Cardin "on bended knee" and holding the ring that had been in the box.

"Once Homer's heart started beating again, she said 'yes,'" the Gazette reported, noting that Cardin was the "toast" of a convention of government leaders in Ocean City this past weekend for his "imaginative marriage proposal."

       LAWMAKER APOLOGIZES FOR STUNT

LAWRENCEVILLE - An unexplained excursion has landed a Lawrenceville man in jail, accused of leaving his 3-year-old daughter home alone and locked in a bedroom.

Sometime Saturday morning, Gwinnett police arrested 28-year-old Paul Wilson and charged him with first-degree child cruelty, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

According to reports, Wilson's roommate, David Beamer, came home at about 10 p.m. Friday night and, after hearing noises upstairs, sent his dog to investigate about 45 minutes later.

Beamer discovered the child locked in the bedroom watching TV, according to reports.

Wilson and his daughter have separate bedrooms upstairs in the Paden Drive residence, police said.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Wilson on his cell phone, reports said, Beamer called police.

Responding officers said they noticed two things upon an upstairs inspection: that the girl's bedroom door had been locked from the outside and that there appeared to be marijuana and paraphernalia in plain view on Wilson's nightstand across the hall.

Around midnight, as police were outside speaking with Beamer and Department of Family and Children Services representatives, police said Wilson called and said he was on his way home.

Upon his arrival, according to police, Wilson said that he had just gone to his girlfriend's house because she had called "hysterical" because her washer was leaking. Wilson said he told his girlfriend, who is not the child's mother, to go over to the house and watch his daughter.

When the girlfriend - identified only as Amy - showed up on scene, reports said, she told police that she had been also been unable to reach Wilson on his cell phone and that her washer had been fixed days earlier.

"Nobody has been there (tonight) except for me and my three cats," she reportedly told police.

Officers searched Wilson's pickup truck and bedroom, reportedly finding marijuana, baggies, scales, smoking devices and a loaded .45-caliber Glock handgun.

Police seized the 2005 Chevrolet Silverado, believing Wilson used it to distribute narcotics.

The child was released to her mother, whom police told there would be an investigation into living arrangements.

Wilson is being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail. Records show he is on probation for felony convictions in 2008.

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/print.aspSectionID=6&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=63408&TM=22494.24

Octomom plus four: Tunisian woman pregnant with 12 babies, may break Nadya Suleman's record: report

Jacob E. Osterhout
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, August 17th 2009, 5:50 PM

Slezak/Getty

That's going to be some pregnant belly: A woman in Tunisia is reportedly pregnant with 12

Move over, "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

Several British media outlets are reporting that a Tunisian teacher is set to give birth to twelve babies this month, breaking the record of "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, who delivered healthy octuplets in January.

The woman, whose name has yet to be released, is in her thirties and lives in a town southwest of the capital Tunis. She underwent fertility treatment after suffering two previous miscarriages and is currently pregnant with six boys and six girls.

The expectant father, a high school Arabic teacher, said that he and his wife of two years initially expected twins, but were overjoyed once they found out about the duodecaplets.

He also claims that his wife desires a natural birth, but medical experts say this is impossible - and also say that the likelihood of all 12 babies surviving is slim.

"When you get to a pregnancy with that many multiples, often some of them spontaneously die," said Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing health editor of Fox News. "Anything more than five babies becomes a very high-risk pregnancy."

"It is certainly possible to carry 12 babies but not for long," Peter Bower-Simpkins of London's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists told the Daily Mail. "The problem is the capacity of the uterus. This woman is going to be enormous by 20 weeks. And when the uterus goes into labor there is nothing you can do about it.

"I wouldn't even give her a one in 100 chance of even one surviving. It's frightening," Simpkins added.

The Tunisian government has already vowed to support the future mother and her family, the Daily Mail reports.

Ut/AP

'Octomom' Nadya Suleman of California holds the record for most multiples brought to term

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/08/17/2009-08-17_octomom_plus_four_tunisian_woman_pregnant_with_12_babies_set_to_break_nadya_sule.html#ixzz0OXN4mKHv

Authorities say two Honolulu police officers tried to elude park police but were arrested on marijuana charges during a weekend softball tournament in Las Vegas.

Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said Monday that 37-year-old Kevin Fujioka and 47-year-old Shayne Souza were arrested Saturday night near Desert Breeze Park, about six miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.

Welling says 38-year-old Scott Wilson of Honolulu was also arrested.

Welling says park police approached the men in a white van because it was parked sideways across two spots in the park's parking lot.

Welling says that as officers approached, the van drove off. She says that after a short car chase, Fujioka and Souza tried to elude authorities on foot.

Welling says all three men are charged with possession of marijuana.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/20252/245/

PORTSMOUTH — Arraigned Monday on charges alleging he pawned stolen gold and was caught stealing sneakers from a mall store, James Morphy told a judge he was “caught up in a gang” that steals shoes and was beaten when he refused to do so.

Morphy, 19, with no permanent address, was arrested by Newington police after a J C Penney employee reported the theft of a $65 pair of Adidas sneakers. Police allege the Saturday theft was committed by Morphy, who led store security on a chase, during which a glass store door was shattered. Following Morphy's arrest, officers learned he was wanted on a warrant for pawning two gold chains that were stolen in Barrington, police allege.

Arraigned by video from the Rockingham County House of Corrections, Morphy was charged with a pair of felonies alleging he pawned two pieces of gold jewelry and collected $650 for each. He was also arraigned on a misdemeanor count of shoplifting.

Police Capt. Brian Newcomer petitioned the court for cash bail noting Morphy has reported four different addresses “depending on the occasion.” The police captain said Morphy's criminal history includes thefts in Maine and burglaries in Florida.

Morphy said he was “running with the wrong crowd,” called the judge's attention to a cut over his right eye and said it was inflicted by someone in the so-called shoe-stealing gang when he refused to steal shoes.

“There's no shoe-stealing gang,” Newcomer said after the hearing.

Judge Sawako Gardner ordered Morphy held on $2,500 cash bail and said if he is able to post it, he must observe a 6 p.m. curfew and obtain employment within two weeks of his release. He was also scheduled to return to the district court for a Sept. 1 probable cause hearing.

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090817-NEWS-908179977

Curtain falls on world’s oldest pupil, but after fulfilling his dream

Published on 17/08/2009

Susan Anyangu

The Standard

Nairobi Kenya

The world’s oldest pupil, Kimani Maruge, 89, passed on at the weekend after living the proverbial nine lives of a cat.

He burst into fame in his sunset days when he enrolled in primary school and his life as a pupil remain’s well documented.

The move, prompted by the Free Primary Education introduced by the Narc Government in 2003, brought him fame and his life is now the subject of a Hollywood film, The First Grader: A True Story of Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge.

Maruge’s displacement from Eldoret at the height of post-election violence, early last year, highlighted the senseless mayhem. Many innocent Kenyans had their lives shattered, never to be the same again.

Maruge, old as he was, never returned to Eldoret, the epicentre of the skirmishes.

He had made it his home for most of his life, but did not return to his first school, where he had enrolled to learn how to read.

He told the world he wanted to read the Bible for himself and carry out simple arithmetic.

After the displacement he was plagued by ill health that would see him in and out of hospital from which he never really recovered.

"People have been telling me things in the Bible, which I do not know if they are true," Maruge said in 2004. "I want to read the Holy Book for myself and find out."

The Mau Mau veteran also said he had been cheated for a long time about his earnings and he wanted to calculate his money.

With unwavering determination and hunger for knowledge, he strolled into Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Eldoret, and sort admission in Class One.

School administrators at first treated the old man with skepticism.

However, Maruge’s persistence broke their hard stance and in 2004 they enrolled him alongside six and seven-year-olds.

With a straight face full of sheer determination, Maruge braved the giggles of fellow pupils and worked hard to become a straight ‘A’ pupil at the school.

By the time he passed away, Maruge had fulfilled his life long dream of being able to read the Bible. His will demonstrated a rare spirit of resilience and perseverance.

He became a beacon of hope for many and a symbol of the importance of education.

"Maruge was a motivator and there is no doubt his story is worth emulating," former Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Francis Ng’ang’a told The Standard, yesterday.

Images of the wrinkled Maruge bent over a wooden desk, perched in the middle of children young enough to be his great, great-grandchildren became a symbol of the Government’s free education initiative.

It also gave many Kenyans the courage to seek knowledge and ability to read and write. The image touched many hearts across the world and the Guinness Book of World Records declared him the oldest pupil.

His decision to enroll in school was marked by a whirlwind of adventure that saw him travel abroad and receive praise for his contribution to the education sector.

In September 2005, Maruge boarded a plane for the first time in his life and headed to New York, US, to address the United Nations Millennium Development Summit on the importance of free primary education.

His message while in New York, where he met with renowned dignitaries was: "It is my life dream to make sure nobody has to wait as long as I to receive an education. It is a basic human right."

During a meeting with the wife of former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, Maruge told Mrs Nane Annan, "You are never too old to learn. At no time ever say, ‘It is too late. I always wanted to be a veterinary doctor because I love animals. It remains my dream’."

Maruge believed "it would be good if all children of the world could go to school" and told the UN summit as much.

His status as Kenya’s most popular pupil would propel the image of the little known Kapkenduiywo Primary School.

During his tour, Maruge highlighted the plight of the school, which lacked permanent structures, water and electricity.

The school was refurbished soon after, turning him from a mere spectacle to a hero whom the pupils looked up to.

But the post-election upheavals in 2007 and early last year, threatened to cut short Maruge’s dream of pursuing education.

His property was reportedly stolen, forcing him to flee. For a moment he contemplated quitting school overwhelmed by the challenges of living in an IDP camp.

However, his unique resilience saw him walk four kilometres, daily from his makeshift home, to attend class.

In June last year, Maruge was forced to withdraw from the school and relocate to Nairobi in a retirement home.

After settling down at: the home, he enrolled again into school, this time joining Class Six at Marura Primary School in Kariobangi.

LINK TO PHOTOS:

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=1144021754&catid=159&a=1

As the challenges of age weighed down on him, Maruge persisted with his determination to attain education. For him, the sky was the limit, and the idea of pursuing a university education was not too far-fetched.

But as fate would have it, Maruge’s failing health confined him to a wheelchair.

And on Friday, August 14, this year, Maruge lost life’s battle to stomach cancer. At the time of his death, Maruge was in Class Seven.

Age just a number

Inspired many

Read and write

It's Time to Legalize Drugs

Monday, August 17, 2009

Undercover Baltimore police officer Dante Arthur was doing what he does well, arresting drug dealers, when he approached a group in January. What he didn't know was that one of suspects knew from a previous arrest that Arthur was police. Arthur was shot twice in the face. In the gunfight that ensued, Arthur's partner returned fire and shot one of the suspects, three of whom were later arrested.

In many ways, Dante Arthur was lucky. He lived. Nationwide, a police officer dies on duty nearly every other day. Too often a flag-draped casket is followed by miles of flashing red and blue lights. Even more officers are shot and wounded, too many fighting the war on drugs. The prohibition on drugs leads to unregulated, and often violent, public drug dealing. Perhaps counterintuitively, better police training and bigger guns are not the answer.

When it makes sense to deal drugs in public, a neighborhood becomes home to drug violence. For a low-level drug dealer, working the street means more money and fewer economic risks. If police come, and they will, some young kid will be left holding the bag while the dealer walks around the block. But if the dealer sells inside, one raid, by either police or robbers, can put him out of business for good. Only those virtually immune from arrests (much less imprisonment) -- college students, the wealthy and those who never buy or sell from strangers -- can deal indoors.

Six years ago one of us wrote a column on this page, "Victims of the War on Drugs." It discussed violence, poor community relations, overly aggressive policing and riots. It failed to mention one important harm: the drug war's clear and present danger toward men and women in blue.

Drug users generally aren't violent. Most simply want to be left alone to enjoy their high. It's the corner slinger who terrifies neighbors and invites rivals to attack. Public drug dealing creates an environment where disputes about money or respect are settled with guns.

In high-crime areas, police spend much of their time answering drug-related calls for service, clearing dealers off corners, responding to shootings and homicides, and making lots of drug-related arrests.

One of us (Franklin) was the commanding officer at the police academy when Arthur (and well as Moskos) graduated. We all learned similar lessons. Police officers are taught about the evils of the drug trade and given the knowledge and tools to inflict as much damage as possible upon the people who constitute the drug community. Policymakers tell us to fight this unwinnable war.

Only after years of witnessing the ineffectiveness of drug policies -- and the disproportionate impact the drug war has on young black men -- have we and other police officers begun to question the system.

Cities and states license beer and tobacco sellers to control where, when and to whom drugs are sold. Ending Prohibition saved lives because it took gangsters out of the game. Regulated alcohol doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough. Prescription drugs are regulated, and while there is a huge problem with abuse, at least a system of distribution involving doctors and pharmacists works without violence and high-volume incarceration. Regulating drugs would work similarly: not a cure-all, but a vast improvement on the status quo.

Legalization would not create a drug free-for-all. In fact, regulation reins in the mess we already have. If prohibition decreased drug use and drug arrests acted as a deterrent, America would not lead the world in illegal drug use and incarceration for drug crimes.

Drug manufacturing and distribution is too dangerous to remain in the hands of unregulated criminals. Drug distribution needs to be the combined responsibility of doctors, the government, and a legal and regulated free market. This simple step would quickly eliminate the greatest threat of violence: street-corner drug dealing.

We simply urge the federal government to retreat. Let cities and states (and, while we're at it, other countries) decide their own drug policies. Many would continue prohibition, but some would try something new. California and its medical marijuana dispensaries provide a good working example, warts and all, that legalized drug distribution does not cause the sky to fall.

Having fought the war on drugs, we know that ending the drug war is the right thing to do -- for all of us, especially taxpayers. While the financial benefits of drug legalization are not our main concern, they are substantial. In a July referendum, Oakland, Calif., voted to tax drug sales by a 4-to-1 margin. Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron estimates that ending the drug war would save $44 billion annually, with taxes bringing in an additional $33 billion.

Without the drug war, America's most decimated neighborhoods would have a chance to recover. Working people could sit on stoops, misguided youths wouldn't look up to criminals as role models, our overflowing prisons could hold real criminals, and -- most important to us -- more police officers wouldn't have to die.

Peter Moskos is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of "Cop in the Hood." Neill Franklin is a 32-year law enforcement veteran. Both served as Baltimore City police officers and are members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Girl rescued from cardboard tube

JAMES L. WHITE
Harrison Daily

Sometimes a game of hide and seek can be very exciting.

That’s what a 7-year-old girl found out Thursday morning when Harrison firefighters and a friend of the girl’s parents had to rescue her from a large cardboard tube she had tried to hide inside.

James L. White/Staff Harrison Fire Chief John Neal looks into a large cardboard tube in which a 7-year-old girl got stuck Thursday morning while playing hide and seek at St. John’s Episcopal Day School.

Jackie Buxton, director at St. John’s Episcopal Day School, said the girl and her classmates were playing hide and seek when the girl got in the tube. School workers said other children had hidden and climbed in the tubes in the past.

However, this time the girl got her leg wedged in the tube. Buxton said they took the tube outside and tried to use cooking oil to lubricate the girl’s leg, but it didn’t work.

So, they called the Harrison Fire Department’s rescue squad to come finish the job.

Fire Chief John Neal talked to the girl to keep her calm while firefighters and Brandon Bolander, a friend of the girl’s parent, used bolt cutters, a hacksaw and a cordless sawsall to cut the tube away from the girl’s leg.

Neal explained that the child had gotten her leg wedged in the tube, her knee against the top and the bottom of her foot against the bottom. Due to that position with her heel against her buttock, she couldn’t move forward or backward.

Eventually, Bolander cut the tube as firefighters kept the blade clear of the girl’s leg and peeled away sections of the tube.

The girl was freed and didn’t suffer any real physical injuries. Rescuers packed up there equipment to leave, but the girl made her feelings known.

“Thank you,” she told them as they walked away.

SWEET LEMONADE KID $LAPPED BITTER AGENTS WRITE $50 TICKET

FRANK ROSARIO and TIM PERONE

Last updated: 4:13 am
August 16, 2009
Posted: 2:13 am
August 16, 2009

Three sourpuss Parks Department agents put the squeeze on a 10-year-old girl in Riverside Park yesterday, slapping the tyke with a $50 ticket for hawking lemonade without a permit.

Clementine Lee, who lives just blocks from the Upper West Side park, had dreamed of opening a lemonade stand since last year and took advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather to set up shop.

"It was such a hot day I figured people would want a cold drink," the aspiring juvenile juice mogul told The Post.

Business was booming for Clementine and her photographer dad, Richard, 49, for the first 20 minutes at the stand on West 73rd Street and Riverside Drive.

The father-daughter team was able to sell 10 glasses of the ice-cold drink for 50 cents each and the dozen chocolate chip cookies they baked.

But their day turned into the pits at 3 p.m. when the heartless pack of city sticklers iced their operation.

"They approached us nonchalantly but then surrounded us," the peeved papa recalled. "They were very hostile as soon as they approached, saying 'Where's your permit? Where's your permit?' "

When Richard admitted he didn't have the right to sell on Parks property, the agents immediately slapped the dad and daughter with a summons for selling food without a license, which carries a maximum fine of $200.

"You've got to be kidding me, this is outrageous!" he told the agents.

Dozens of onlookers rallied to the pair's defense, shouting that the Parks officers were violating the Lees' civil rights, but the brokenhearted pair packed up and went home.

"Don't these agents have anything better to do?" Richard fumed to The Post. "They could have at least told us to move but they didn't give us a chance.

"There are better ways to raise money for the Parks Department then busting 10 year-olds."

His soccer-enthusiast daughter said the ordeal left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I was really nervous when these three agents cornered me and my dad," said Clementine, who loves classical music and has been playing violin since she was 4.

"I think they should let people sell lemonade out here. We weren't hurting anyone."

But yesterday, after The Post contacted the department, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe announced that the ticket would be nixed.

"The agent used extremely poor judgment" and didn't properly enforce the rule, Benepe said.

The bumbling Parks enforcement patrol officer will be re-trained on rules and regulations and will be reassigned, he added.

"We're going to make lemonade out of lemons . . . I look forward to buying lemonade from her if I pass by," said the commissioner.

Clementine said she might take him up on the offer.

"I'm going to wait a little while, but I'd love to [sell lemonade] again," she said.

As for her dad, he was relieved that "justice was served."

JUST FINE! Clementine Lee holds the ticket that agents (above) handed her and her dad. Parks boss Adrian Benepe voided it.

Man jumped off a ferry yelling "I need a break" to stop his wife from nagging him

The Daily Telegraph

August 11, 2009 3:59PM

Man throws himself overboard to end wife's constant nagging ... The man after he was found alive said he thought he was going to die but it felt better than hearing his wife's nagging. Source: Getty Images

A MAN jumped into a fast-flowing river because he couldn't take his wife's nagging anymore.

The Chinese lorry driver, known as Zhou, and his wife were on a ferry on the Yangtze River when it all became too much for him, the Chongqing Evening Post reports.

Members of the ship's crew saw the man suddenly run out of his cabin with his hands covering his ears, and shouting: "I can't stand it any longer."

They initially thought he was suffering from an ear injury and went to help him but found he was unhurt.

"While we were still puzzling over the this, his wife ran up and continued nagging him," said a crewmate.

"The husband covered his ears again and said: 'I need a break' before jumping over the side into the rushing river.

"We immediately found lamps to light up the water but found nobody. The possibility of survival can be zero."

However, later that night, police found the man who had managed to swim about 2km across across the broad river.

"I felt I was dying, but even that's better than my wife's nagging," he reportedly told the police.

The couple were reunited the following morning at the local police station where Zhou's wife promised to give up her habit of nagging him

Cruel Burglar Taunts His Victim On Facebook

5:18am UK, Sunday August 16, 2009

A cruel burglar has logged onto his victim's Facebook page to taunt her about the break-in, boasting: "Listening to music on my new phone - feels so good."

Victoria Richardson has been taunted by the burglar who raided her home

The thief accessed Victoria Richardson's Facebook homepage the day after breaking into the home she shares with her family in Hove, East Sussex.

Mrs Richardson lost an iPhone, a Nintendo DS games console, a handbag containing a purse, cash and debit cards and a black Toshiba laptop in the burglary.

She says the invasion of privacy has made the crime doubly painful.

One message read: "on my new laptop" while another said, "listening to music on my new phone feels so good".

The thief then adds further insult by saying he left the TV in the house as it was "rubbish".

The taunts on Victoria's Facebook page

He adds that he plans to make a trip to a pawn shop with some of the other goods.

The heartless criminal signs off with the message: "Regards your nighttime burglar".

Mrs Richardson, 42, told the Brighton Argus: "I felt very spooked."

She added: "It felt like they were rubbing my nose in it. They have been in your physical space, and then they are in your online space."

She urged people with computers to protect them with passwords so they did not fall victim to similar invasions of privacy.

Sussex Police confirmed it attended the incident

Drunk man tries to make getaway in squad car

STACY VOGEL 

The Janesville Gazette   

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

JANESVILLE — A man whose blood alcohol level was more than five times the legal definition of intoxication apparently tried to make a getaway attempt in a squad car Aug. 7, according to a report from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office.

He was one of 10 people cited for underage drinking outside a home in the 9400 block of West Mineral Point Road, Center Township.

Deputies responded at 11:22 p.m. to an anonymous complaint and found 30 to 40 cars parked outside, the report says. Several vehicles were leaving the scene when deputies arrived. The house was dark and no one would come out, the report says.

As a deputy peered inside, a 20-year-old Janesville man walked out of a cornfield, the report says. The man admitted he’d been drinking, and deputies put him in the back seat of a squad car.

A few minutes later, Deputy Matthew Jacobson heard the squad car’s alarm going off and saw the 20-year-old man in the driver’s seat. When asked where he was going, the man said he wanted to go back with his friends. He was cited for obstructing a police officer, handcuffed and put in the back seat.

The man submitted to a breath test and blew a 0.41, more than five times the level considered intoxicated, the report says. Jacobson thought the result might be a mistake, so he had the man take another test with a different breath-testing machine, resulting in a 0.38 reading.

He was issued a citation for underage drinking, second offense, and his mother picked him up from the jail, the report says. Jacobson advised the mother to watch the man and suggested she take him to Mercy Hospital, but the man was not seen at the hospital, a spokeswoman there said.

When contacted Friday, the man said he wasn’t sure how much he drank that night but estimated “a couple of cups” of beer. He said he thinks the breath tests were inaccurate.

He denied making an escape attempt but admitted he didn’t remember everything that happened that night.

Nine other people were cited for underage drinking during the incident, including seven who were discovered in two vehicles driving away from the party, one who was in the driveway and one a deputy discovered passed out in a ditch across the street, the report says.

Victim Kills Would-Be Robber

Robber shoots his partner

Elizabeth Braun

Melanie Stout

TMJ4

MILWAUKEE - A man was being robbed at gunpoint when he pulled out his own gun and shot one of the suspects.