February 24, 2009

4:11 PM ESt

Man stabs son in left buttock after he refused to take off his hat in church

The Baltimore Sun 4:35 PM EST

February 24, 2009

Danville couple wins $2 million house in raffle

John Stith

The Post-Standard

Monday February 23, 2009

 5:08 PM

Auburn, NY -- Stephen A. Turo, of Genoa, sat on a chair covered with a blanket in the back of a rental truck, shivering in the 18-degree cold, as Cayuga County Judge Thomas G. Leone arraigned him Monday on a 24-count indictment alleging sale and possession of prescription painkillers.

Turo, 56, of 1138 Maple St., by his own estimate weighs about 700 pounds. He was accompanied to the arraignment by his wife and daughter, and he sucked oxygen from two plastic tubes fed by a portable machine during the proceeding.

It was an unusual setting for a court proceeding: a 10-foot box truck backed up to the loading dock in the rear of the Historic Post Office in Auburn. Leone and a dozen other court personnel stood in the swirling snow for the 15-minute proceeding.

If found guilty of just one of the felony charges, Turo could be sent to state prison for 25 years. If he lands in prison, he would be the heaviest inmate ever housed by the state Department of Correctional Services, spokesman Erik Kriss said.

The Genoa man pleaded innocent. Leone set bail at $1,000 cash or $2,000 bond, even though Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher T. Valdina said Turo posed no risk of flight. Turo has until 5 p.m. today to post bail.

"Thank you, your honor, for coming down," Turo told Leone as the arraignment ended.

After the arraignment, Leone said Turo needed to be present at the proceeding to avoid any misunderstanding about the charges or his rights. The judge said he would not go to Turo's home for the arraignment.

"That's a dangerous precedent to set,' Leone said.

Turo remained in the truck to be fingerprinted and have his "mug" shot taken by a sheriff's investigator.

The whole process, including the time Turo sat in the back of the closed truck waiting, took less than 90 minutes.

Turo's wife, Claudette, had been arraigned last week on a 17-count indictment that also alleged possession and sale of prescription painkillers.

The trip to Auburn was the first time Turo has been out of his home in several years. He is unlikely to appear back in court until his case is settled. He waived his right to attend any future court sessions, to argue motions on April 16 or to bargain with the District Attorney's Office. His attorney, Douglas Bates, will handle the plea negotiations.

"I don't know what outcome our office will ultimately approve of, but gross obesity in and of itself is no defense," Valdina said after the arraignment.

Kriss, the state prison spokesman, said if Turo is convicted and is sent to state prison, the prison system will accommodate him.

"No one on our medical staff can recall an inmate that heavy being in our custody," Kriss said, "but they did say whatever size inmate we get and however heavy, we will make sure they will have the right bed and all the rest of that stuff so that they can have their needs met."

The prison system has four medical facilities across the state, Kriss said, and Turo could end up in one of those facilities.

Cayuga County Sheriff David S. Gould said his corrections staff will make whatever adjustments are necessary to house Turo in the county lockup in Sennett if he is housed there.

"We would do whatever we had to do," the sheriff said. "We could do it. ... It would be something different, but we could do it if we had to."

John Stith / The Post-StandardStephen Turo, at his Genoa home last week, is in Cayuga County Court today. He needed a U-Haul truck to be transported to court because he can't fit into a normal car.

Cops Bust Truck Driver With 1,400 Pounds Of Pot Mixed With Frozen Food

February 22, 2009 10:42 a.m. EST

Jud'oh! Black belt floors burglar

Thursday, February 19, 2009

'Take him down'

February 19, 2009

Metro United Kingdom

A burglar was chopped in his tracks after picking on a victim who turned out to have a black belt in judo.

The 25-year-old thief got the nasty surprise after sneaking into a house in the northern German port city of Bremen.

He was rifling through jewellery in an upstairs bedroom when the homeowner surprised him with several blows from behind.

February 21, 2009

11: 03 PM EST

BEIJING – At least 44 miners died and 21 remained trapped underground after a gas blast ripped through a coal mine in northern China on Sunday, state media said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.

Rescuers said the death toll had risen to 44 by 11 a.m. local time, Xinhua said in a brief dispatch without providing details. State television channel CCTV reported that 21 workers remained trapped.

Earlier reports said 340 miners had escaped but 96 were trapped underground. Those reports said 11 miners had died after being taken to hospitals.

An official with the provincial government duty office confirmed the accident, but did not have any details. He would give only his surname Chen.

The mine is owned by Shanxi Jiaomei Group, China's largest producer of coking coal and an operator of 28 mines.

Although China has worked to cut mine accidents by closing more than 1,000 small, dangerous mines last year, the country's mining industry is still the world's deadliest. About 3,200 miners died in accidents last year, a 15 percent improvement over the previous year.

Many of the smaller mines have lax safety measures, and are plagued by fires, explosions, floods and other accidents.

Associated Press Writer

Saturday, February 21, 2009

(02-21) 10:39 PST Wampum, Pa. (AP) --

An 11-year-old boy has been charged in the death of a pregnant woman who was found shot in a bedroom of her western Pennsylvania farmhouse, police said Saturday.

A statement from state police said the boy was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child in the killing of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk. The victim was 8 months pregnant.

The statement said the boy had been arraigned in District Court and placed in the Lawrence County jail.

Officers couldn't immediately say Saturday whether the boy and the woman were related and wouldn't give any other details.

Police said Houk's 5-year-old daughter found her mother's body Friday morning in a bedroom of their home in a wooded area in the community of Wampum.

The home, located at the end of a half-mile-long driveway along a road scattered with abandoned and burned-out trailers, was cordoned off with yellow police tape and a Pennsylvania State Police vehicle was parked out front early Saturday afternoon. Next to the house was farm equipment and a barn filled with hay.

A neighbor, Cameron Tucker, said Houk was engaged and had been renting the house for no more than a year. Tucker said he had never met Houk's fiance, but that both of them had children.

"She was very protective of her kids," he said, adding that she seemed very excited about her pregnancy.

Tucker's wife sometimes drove Houk's daughter to the bus stop because she went to preschool with the Tuckers' 5-year-old.

WPXI-TV identified the dead woman's father as Jack Houk. There was no immediate response Saturday to a call by The Associated Press seeking comment from a Jack Houk of New Castle, a town next to Wampum.

A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

The rural community is about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

A Georgia man who won the state lottery twice on Valentine's Day eve says he owes his good luck to his wife, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

James McAllister, 62, of Acworth, Ga.,scratched off a $5,000 winner in the Georgia

Lottery Millionaire Jumbo Bucks game while having breakfast with his wife last Friday, then bought another ticket that paid $250,000 later that day while he was buying her a card.

McAllister wasn't available for comment, but he did issue a written statement through the Georgia Lottery crediting his wife with being his lucky charm.

It was because of Valentine's Day, he said. If it hadn't been for my wife, I probably wouldn't have won either time."

(UPI)

 

Henry K. Lee

Chronicle Staff Writer

(02-20) 11:29 PST OAKLAND -- A 23-year-old visitor from the East Coast had just gotten money from an ATM when he told his friend on a cell phone that he had a bad feeling about two men approaching him at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland.

His worst fears were realized when one suspect, Victor Veliz, 18, held a folding knife with a 5-inch blade to his neck and the other, Christopher Gonzalez, 18, threatened to shoot him Thursday night, authorities said.

In a blind panic, he lashed out at his attackers, grabbing the knife from one of them and punching the other as his friend listened in horror on the phone.

Without realizing it, authorities say, the man stabbed Gonzalez in the chest. Gonzalez stumbled to his family's home around the corner, collapsed into his father's arms and died.

Veliz, who is affiliated with a gang, was arrested at Gonzalez's home after police allegedly found him with the East Coast visitor's cell phone. He will be charged with murder in the death of his accomplice, along with a robbery count, prosecutors said.

The robbery victim suffered only cuts in fighting off his assailants. He ran from the station, flagged down an Oakland police officer on Fruitvale Avenue and turned over the bloody knife. His name was not released.

The man was "scared senseless" when he was attacked about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, said Allison Danzig, an Alameda County deputy district attorney. He acted in self-defense and will not be charged, she said.

When police told him that Gonzalez had died, "he was very saddened and very upset," Danzig said.

Gonzalez's father, Javier Gonzalez, said Friday that his son had cried out for his parents and sister when he burst into his home on San Leandro Street. He died there.

Javier Gonzalez sobbed at the loss of his son, who worked with him in his roofing business and at Oakland Raiders games.

"I'm angry at both of them," he said of the robbery victim and Veliz. "They took my son away from me. He was a hard-working kid."

He added, "My son is dead. I want somebody to pay for this."

The incident wasn't the only violence near a BART station Thursday night. In Daly City, police said, a triple shooting outside the BART station that left one man dead and two others wounded may have resulted from a mistaken belief that the victims were gang members.

Two of the four men who were in a 1995 Buick Regal when the car was sprayed with bullets were wearing red baseball caps, and the color red is associated with a Latino gang, said Daly City police Lt. Jay Morena.

But the victims were not gang members, Morena said.

The dead man, a 21-year-old from San Francisco, has not been identified, and no arrests have been made.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

 

The Los Angeles police department (LAPD) has confirmed it will start an internal investigation after a picture of a battered and bruised Rihanna was leaked online.

As previously reported, TMZ.com somehow obtained a photograph of the “Umbrella” singer after her alleged attack by Chris Brown. (Pictured right)

"The Los Angeles Police Department takes seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence," the LAPD said in a statement on Thursday (February 19).

"A violation of this type is considered serious misconduct, with penalties up to and including termination."

Brown, 20, was arrested on a charge of making criminal threats on February 8th after an altercation with an unnamed woman, believed to be Rihanna, in Los Angeles.

Brown has since issued a statement saying he is "sorry and saddened" by the incident. The “Forever” star also stated he’s seeking counseling from his church pastor.

Although Rihanna told police this incident wasn't the first time Brown had been physically abusive towards her, according to the police source, "she may have thrown the first punch" on this occasion.

BREAKING NEWS: Photo of Rihanna After Alleged Chris Brown Assault Released
Thursday February 19, 2009

A photo of Rihanna after she was allegedly assaulted by Chris Brown has been obtained by TMZ.

In the disturbing picture, the singer appears to have a swollen, bloody lip, two black eyes and marks on her forehead.

Rihanna -- who turns 21 years old tomorrow -- has been lying low in her native Barbados following the alleged attack the morning of the Grammys, which started when another woman sent a text message to Brown, Us Weekly reports in its newest issue, on stands now.

Brown, 19, was arrested for making criminal threats, but has yet to face charges from the Los Angeles District Attorney.

He released a statement on Feb. 15 saying he was "sorry and saddened...over what transpired."