Monday 4-20-09

427, 425, 827, 803, 851, 187, 032, 543, 230

435, 457, 859, 769, 054, 604, 512, 892, 609

222, 916, 1759, 3724, 4522, 0714, 8501, 2769

"But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breathe of his lips shall he slay the wicked."

- Isaiah 11:4 -

Police: Five found dead in Maryland home

MIDDLETOWN, Md. - A Maryland man who killed his wife and three children before fatally shooting himself left behind five notes, including an apology to family members and hints that he suffered from psychiatric problems, authorities said.

The local sheriff said there were also signs that the family had financial problems.

For residents of the small town of Middletown and members of Holy Family Catholic Community Church, where the slain mother taught catechism, reports of the brutal killings were upsetting and baffling.

"We're all in shock and trying to come to terms," said Kevin Farmer, the pastor of Holy Family.

Christopher Alan Wood killed his wife and children, then himself, in their northwest Maryland home, leaving a gruesome scene that authorities said was found Saturday by the children's grandfather.

The 33-year-old mother and three children suffered "traumatic cuts" and each also had at least one gunshot wound from a .25-caliber handgun, Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said. Their precise cause of death wasn't immediately known, and Jenkins declined to say what was used to slash them.

Jenkins said Wood, an accountant at railroad operator CSX Corp., apologized to family members in one of the notes he left at the scene. The sheriff wouldn't elaborate on what else was written in the notes.

The sheriff also said there was evidence that Wood faced financial problems and may have been in debt.

CSX did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Saturday.

The family had moved months ago to the home in Middletown, a community of fewer than 3,000 people west of Frederick, friends said.

Jane Durant, the director of Middletown United Methodist Church Preschool, said she last saw the slain mother, Francis Billotti Wood, on Thursday morning, when she picked up her 4-year-old son at the school.

The boy didn't come to school the next day. Durant, the school's director, thought it was unusual. Now, she wonders if something horrible happened Thursday night.

The dead woman's father found the slain family around 9 a.m. local time Saturday. He had grown concerned after not hearing from them for several days, Frederick County sheriff's office spokeswoman Jennifer Bailey said.

When investigators arrived at the two-story home, the couple's two sons, ages 5 and 4, lay dead in their beds, while the bodies of a 2-year-old daughter and the mother were in the master bedroom, Bailey said. On the master bedroom floor by the foot of the bed was the 34-year-old father, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, she said.

‘You never know ...’
Francis Wood — known by some as "Francie" — returned to her native Middletown from Texas last year to be closer to her family, said Durant, the preschool director. She described Francis Wood as a vibrant, bubbly and loving person.

"I just talked to her every day and she's just one of those people you fell in love with right away," Durant said.

Neighbor Peggy Lawrence described Francis Wood as a good homemaker.

"It wouldn't lead you to believe anything was wrong," Lawrence said. "I'm still sick to my stomach. Just to see it end so quickly is so devastating and makes you realize you never know what's going on in people's lives."

Evening 4-19-09 Evening

** for the next 5 draws **

2089, 4526, 4536, 4576, 8029, 9280

3980, 8972, 8293, 1645, 5416

'Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;'

- Psalm 108:5 -

"Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted."

Isaiah 31:6

Midday & Evening

** until 4-20-09 **

800, 810, 820, 830, 840, 850, 860, 870, 880, 890

530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539

111, 222, 333, 666, 777, 888

   "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."

-  Albert Einstein -

VA: 3 patients HIV-positive after clinic mistakes

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Three patients exposed to contaminated medical equipment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have tested positive for  HIV, the agency said Friday. Initial tests show one patient each from VA medical facilities in Murfreesboro, Tenn.;  Augusta, Ga.; and  Miami  has the virus that causes AIDS, according to a VA statement.

The three cases included one positive HIV test reported earlier this month, but the VA didn't identify the facility involved at the time.

The patients are among more than 10,000 getting tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn't properly sterilized and exposed them to other people's  body fluids.

Vietnam veteran  Samuel Mendes, 60, said he was surprised to learn of an HIV case linked to the Miami facility, where he had a  colonoscopy. He was told he wasn't among those at risk.

"I was hoping and expecting to not get anyone contaminated like that," he said. "It's probably a little worse than we thought."

The VA also said there have been six positive tests for the  hepatitis B virus  and 19 positive tests for  hepatitis C  at the three locations.

There's no way to prove patients were exposed to the viruses at its facilities, the agency said.

"These are not necessarily linked to any endoscopy issues and the evaluation continues," the statement said.

The VA has said it does not yet know if veterans treated with the same kind of equipment at its other 150 hospitals may have been exposed to the same mistake before the department had a nationwide safety training campaign.

An agency spokeswoman has said the mistake with the equipment was corrected nationwide by the time the campaign ended March 14. The problems discovered in December date back more than five years at the Murfreesboro and  Miami  hospitals.

The VA's disclosure Friday was the department's first comment since April 3, when the VA reported the one positive HIV test.

VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts has declined to provide any details on how widespread the problems might have been other than saying a review of the situation continues.

She said in an e-mail Friday that "there is a very small risk of harm to patients from the procedures at each site." She said the HIV results "still need to be verified" in additional tests.

The VA statement shows the number of "potentially affected" patients totals 10,797, including 6,387 who had colonoscopies at Murfreesboro, 3,341 who had colonoscopies at Miami and 1,069 who were treated at the ear, nose and throat clinic at Augusta.

More than 5,400 patients, about half of those at risk, have been notified of their follow-up test results, the VA said.

The Friday statement said the VA is "continuing to notify individuals whose letters have been returned as undeliverable, and working with homeless coordinators to reach veterans with no known home address."

The statement also said the VA has assigned more than 100 employees at the three locations to "ensure that affected veterans receive prompt testing and appropriate counseling."

All three sites used endoscopic equipment made by Olympus American Inc., which has said in a statement it is helping the VA address problems with "inadvertently neglecting to appropriately reprocess a specific auxiliary water tube."

Charles Rollins, 62, who served three tours in  Vietnam  with the Navy from 1966 to 1969, said the news concerns him because he's used the Augusta ear, nose and throat clinic several times.

"That's terrible," he said by phone as he socialized at an  American Legion post  in Augusta.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

- Mohandas Gandhi -

Midday 4-15-09 Evening

** until 4-17-09 **

0134 0156 0179 0269 0278 0359 0368 0458 0467 0489 0579 0678 1259 1268 1358 1367 1389 1457 1479 1569 1578 2357 2379 2456 2469 2478 2568 2789 3459 3468 3689 4589 4679 0012 0057 0089 1124 1169 1178 2204 2213 2258 2267 2289 3302 3324 3369 3378 4413 4458 5502 5507 5516 5529 5538 6605 6609 6614 6618 6623 6627 7703 7712 7716 7725 7739 7748 8801 8805 8814 8819 8823 8837 8846 9903 9908 9912 9917 9926 9935 9948 0003 1110 4440 5552 7770 8882 9993 0044 0066 1133 1155 2244 4499 2222

Midday 4-15-09 Evening

** until 4-18-09 **

012  017  026  035  039  048  057  089  125  129  134  138  147  156  179  237  246  269  278  345  359  368  458  467  489  579  678  003  008  116  224  228  233  336  044  449  255  557  066  566  669  377  188  588  399  899  111  444  777 

"Seize the day, leave as little as possible to tomorrow."

-  Horace (65-8BC)  -

Mel Gibson divorce settlement could set record

Mel Gibson may soon be writing one of the biggest checks of his life — to his wife.

With no indication that the estranged couple — who married 28 years ago — had a prenup, Robyn Gibson, 53, is legally entitled in their divorce to half of everything the actor-director-producer earned from their marriage in 1980 to the date of their legal separation: A fortune estimated at close to $1 billion.

"This could easily be one of the biggest divorce settlements in Hollywood history," says Los Angeles family lawyer Lynn Soodik, who's not involved with the case. "Any attorney would advise her to take half."

A $500 million settlement would dwarf the current record holders of celebrity divorce: Michael Jordan ponied up $168 million following his 2006 divorce with wife Juanita; Neil Diamond forked over $150 million after his 1994 split with Marcia Murphey; while Steven Spielberg shelled out $100 million following his 1989 divorce from Amy Irving.

Among Gibson's estimated assets: More than $600 million grossed by "The Passion of the Christ" alone, $100-plus million in real estate investments worldwide (he bought an island in Fiji for $15 million in 2004), and $75 million for film and TV projects for which Gibson executive produced.

As for film residuals, Gibson, also 53, "would be accountable to pay half for the rest of his days," Soodik says. "If he gets a residual check for "Lethal Weapon" or "Braveheart," half of that check is hers."

But don't expect the ex-couple to enter a painful, protracted battle in the courts.

"This divorce will probably reach a settlement in a matter of months," Soodik says. "It likely won't be messy since there's enough money to go around."