NE45D HOME: http://www.ne45d.com
May 29, 2013
Rancho Cordova man sentenced to
prison for child exploitation
A Rancho Cordova man was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for
sexual exploitation of a minor.
Brandon Marks, 25, was sentenced in federal court in Sacramento by
U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. He will be subject to 40 years of
supervised release following his time in prison for enticement of a minor to
engage in sexual activity, and for receiving and sharing child pornography,
according to a federal Department of Justice news release. He also will be required
to register as a sex offender under the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act.
According to court documents, on May 29, 2012, an undercover detective
responded to a Craigslist
advertisement that Marks had posted in which he sought to acquire children's
underwear. After a week of online and cell phone communications, during
which Marks sent several images and one video of child pornography, Marks
agreed to meet the undercover detective at a Sacramento hotel to have sex with
what he thought to be a 12-year-old girl. He was arrested when he arrived at
the hotel.
A search of Marks' phone, computer and email accounts found evidence
of trading in child pornography, officials said. Investigators found a total of
two videos and about 70 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
http://www.stereoboard.com/content/view/179273/9
Man Posed As One DirectionÕs Harry Styles To Sexually
Exploit Young Children
Friday, 31 May 2013
A 45 year-old American man has been charged with Ôemploying a minor in an obscene performanceÕ amongst other things this week - after posing as One DirectionÕs Harry Styles and offering young children tickets to One Direction concerts in return for performing sex acts on webcam.
Connecticut-based John Eastman travelled to Virginia earlier this month, but was arrested after a warrant was issued following accusations that heÕd been using Skype - with the username Harry.Styles888 and some pictures of the singer - to convince young children he was Styles, before using the identity to get them to perform lewd acts on webcam.
Currently being held on a bail of $500,000, police found hundreds of graphic pictures and videos of child pornography, while his webcam was being used to take dozens of indecent pictures of children as young as five, Sky News reports via Republican American. ItÕs also been claimed that heÕd offer the kids One Direction gig tickets in return for the sexual favours.
HeÕs since been Ôhauled backÕ to Connecticut after being found in Virginia, and now faces charges which include Ôemploying a minor in an obscene performanceÕ.
Danish Tourist Reportedly Gang-Raped,
Robbed In New Delhi
JANUARY 15, 2014 9:37 AM ET
A 51-year-old Danish tourist was allegedly gang-raped in
the heart of India's capital, and police said Wednesday that they've detained
several suspects for questioning.
According to a police spokesman, the woman asked a group of men for directions back
to her hotel Tuesday after she became lost. The Press Trust of India
news agency reports that the men allegedly lured her to a secluded area near New
Delhi's Connaught Place where she was robbed, beaten and sexually assaulted at
knife-point.
NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that the attack occurred in
Rajeev Chowk, which is filled with upmarket stores, restaurants and posh
offices.
"When she came [in], it was miserable," Amit
Bahl, owner of the Amax hotel in the Paharganj area, where the woman was
staying, was quoted by The Associated Press as
saying. The alleged victim, he said, was "not in good shape."
The hotel is popular with backpackers, and a sign
outside reads that it's "Recommended by Lonely Planet," the AP says.
The attack is the latest to focus world attention on
sexual violence in India, where four men received a death sentence in
September for raping a 23-year-old woman in the capital. The alleged attack on
the Danish tourist follows reports of similar assaults in India on a Swiss tourist last March and a U.S. woman in June. Three
men were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in the
June incident.
McCarthy says, "the glare of publicity [over attacks on
foreigners] has hurt India's image abroad and its tourism industry has been hit
as a result."
U.S. tourist in India says she was gang raped this week
A 46-year old American tourist on her first visit to India says she was gang raped earlier this week while visiting Dharamsala, a popular tourist destination in the hills of northern India, according to Indian media reports.
ÒShe says she had gone out for dinner at around 9 p.m.,Ó senior police officer Renu Sharma told NDTV. ÒWhen she was returning at around midnight, someone grabbed her and then she fell unconscious. She said when she came to, she realized she had been raped. She then went to the police station.Ó
The Times of India reported that a case had been ÒregisteredÓ against Òtwo unknown assailantsÓ in connection with the allegation.
The rape is one of several reported in the past few years by women tourists at a time when the country has been grappling with many more rapes of Indian women.
A 30-year-old American woman was reportedly gang raped in the town of Manali in 2013. Earlier this year, Japan warned female citizens about visiting India following two rape allegations brought by Japanese women, one in Jaipur and another in the state of Bihar.
In December, 2012, tourists from Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark filed rape charges as well.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/bay-bridge/article2575654.html
Interactive timeline: A span of decades
The
decades-long process of design and construction for the new Bay Bridge eastern
span has been plagued by controversy, delay and vast cost overruns. Visit our
timeline to see the history.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/bay-bridge/article2577571.html
Corrosion plagues new Bay Bridge span
Experts
say that while a total collapse seems unlikely, if Caltrans miscalculated
corrosion estimates a major quake could cripple sections of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Doug
Coe, a normally confident engineering manager for the new east span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, walked into the nearby Oakland project office
looking as if he were fighting back tears. Joel Sayre, then a bridge spokesman
who worked there, remembers tensing in alarm.
Engineers
had discovered an alarming corrosion problem with the "post-tension"
tendons, and were pumping gallons of rusty water from the ducts that held them,
Sayre said Coe told him. "Oh my god," he recalled Coe saying that
afternoon in late spring of 2006. "What are we going to do?"
Coe,
whom the California Department of Transportation would not permit to answer
questions, was talking about thousands of steel tendons in the skyway section
of the new span – the elevated roadway that runs from the Oakland footing
to the suspension bridge near Yerba Buena Island. Ducts containing the tendons,
crucial to structural integrity, had been left unsealed. Rainfall and water
used to cure concrete, tainted by construction debris exposed to salty bay
mist, had entered many of them.
The
bridge was billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. Rusty
water meant tendons had corroded. Sayre said Coe, lead skyway engineer,
described a potential nightmare that could stop construction cold.
Such
concerns led Caltrans to examine hundreds of tendons. The agency found little
significant corrosion – a false alarm. It laid out that conclusion in a
report and moved on.
Because of the concerns of Sayre and others, The Bee compared that
Caltrans study against about 115,000 pages of construction and inspection records
and found the conclusions were based on wrong information. The records show
that the agency misstated in its report the extent of water contamination and
its own inspection efforts. Conclusions that corrosion caused no harm were
based partly on underestimates about how long tendons were left exposed and
vulnerable, and on suspect testing methods.
In
March, anchor bolts meant to secure seismic equipment on the new bridge broke
– an event attributed partly to water-induced corrosion. Caltrans
similarly failed to take basic precautions to protect many skyway tendons from
water even after the agency completed its study. Those lapses and others, said
nine leading experts in the corrosion of bridge tendons, introduced uncertainty
about the durability of the skyway.
Experts
said that while a total collapse seemed unlikely, if Caltrans miscalculated
corrosion estimates a major quake could cripple sections of the skyway. The
span's construction violated universally accepted techniques meant to prevent
corrosion, they said, and could result in costly inspection and maintenance
headaches nearly unheard of for similar modern bridges.
Among
The Bee's findings:
Beginning
more than two years before Coe's discovery, inspectors frequently warned about
water leaks and corrosion. Bridge spokesman Andrew Gordon could not say why
officials failed to address the problems without significant research.
Experts
blamed water problems on design or construction errors. Leaks of grout –
a cement-based filler that normally prevents or halts corrosion – between
hundreds of ducts forced long construction delays that left tendons exposed.
They said the errors made further, unseen corrosion of tendons likely.
Caltrans used the wrong tests for corrosion, resulting in
"essentially useless" findings, said UC Berkeley engineering
professor Thomas Devine, an internationally known authority on corrosion-caused
cracking in metals. He called the agency's research "woefully
inadequate" and "meaningless" for detecting "environmentally
assisted cracking," which can worsen as tendons fatigue under stress, and
can ultimately cause breaks.
University
of South Florida professor Alberto A. SagŸŽs, sole independent evaluator of the
Caltrans study, gave it a vote of confidence based on faulty assumptions provided
by Caltrans. SagŸŽs declined to comment.
Caltrans
declined Bee requests to interview toll bridge manager Tony Anziano and chief
Bay Bridge engineer Brian Maroney about the tendons.
In
written responses to questions, Gordon said "Corrosion has been an issue
since the first steel bridge was built, and what we learned from this
particular challenge six years ago is that we're never going to be done
fighting the battle against corrosion in the San Francisco Bay."
Neil
Hawkins, engineering professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, reviewed
the Caltrans study and other documents for The Bee. He said in an email that
the agency probably had faced a grim dilemma when the problems came to light.
"The
alternatives may have been proceeding as they have done or tearing down
completely the existing construction," Hawkins said. "The issue then
becomes both technical, economic and political. Who bears the blame and why did
this irregularity occur?"
Duct tape defense
On
a cool, overcast day in November 2004, during a routine check of the bridge
deck, Caltrans inspector Laura Rubalcaba stumbled on a surprise: Water was
leaking through damaged vents that led into tendon ducts.
Those
galvanized steel ducts run inside the concrete segments that make up much of
the bridge. Once tendons are inserted into the ducts and anchored at one end,
hydraulic jacks stretch or "stress" the tendons, compressing segments
to boost strength. Builders then fill ducts with grout to protect the tendons
against corrosion.
Such
methods have been commonplace, worldwide, since the 1950s. Until recent
decades, water leaks that caused tendons to corrode also were common. Corroded
tendons can crack and rupture, causing maintenance headaches – or in
extreme cases, bridge failures. In 1992, after some structures collapsed,
United Kingdom authorities declared a four-year moratorium on post-tensioned
bridge construction – and a longer moratorium for using the technique on
bridges that, like the skyway, are built from precast segments. In 1999 and 2000,
major Florida bridges failed due to tendon corrosion.
Strict
federal and state rules were developed to ensure that salt, water and
construction debris can't enter ducts and corrode tendons. Those rules –
and the skyway contract – required grouting within 10 days of tendon
installation; 30 days if the builder blows a rust-inhibiting powder into the
ducts.
Rubalcaba,
like dozens of other inspectors, policed contractors who built the bridge.
Where she stood, according to construction diaries, many tendons in ungrouted
ducts had been installed more than two months earlier.
http://time.com/3615599/transgender-student-restroom-lawsuit-maine/
Nicole
Maines, Transgender Student, Goes To Maine High Court
A court in Maine awarded the family of a transgender
teenager $75,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against a school district that forced the student to use
a staff restroom rather than a facility reserved for pupils, reports the
Associated Press.
Nicole Maines, 17, had won her lawsuit against the Orono
school district earlier this year in front of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court,
which ruled that the school district had violated the stateÕs Human Rights Act.
Transgender child, 6, wins civil rights case to use
the girls restroom at school in Colorado
A Colorado transgender girl, Coy Mathis, 6, has won the right to
use the female restrooms at her elementary school in a civil rights case
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/10/prweb13018456.htm
As reported by Merritt Clifton,
Editor of Animals 24-7 on October 3, 2015, ÒAlthough only 5% of the U.S. and
Canadian dog population are pit
bulls, in the past nine years pit bulls have accounted for 80% of the dogs involved
in fatal and disfiguring attacks, resulting in two-thirds of the deaths and disfigurements.Ó
China
Banking Crisis Escalates: Some Banks Suspend Lending Activity
By Valentin Schmid,
Epoch Times | June 26, 2013
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24607452/welcome-leap-home-prices-many-east-bay-cities
6/12/2013
The East Bay watched from the
sidelines last year as housing prices soared in the South Bay and Peninsula,
propelled by Silicon Valley's unstoppable growth. This year its turn to rebound
finally came.
"It was like somebody walked
in and flicked on a light switch" in mid-March, said Jason Crouch of All
East Bay Properties in Emeryville.
The gains have brought cities
closer to their peak prices before the 2007 housing crash, restored positive
equity to tens of thousands of homes that had been underwater for years, and
given many homeowners a chance to refinance high-interest loans. But they also
reflect a tight inventory of single-family homes for sale that have set off
bidding wars and have forced homebuyers to trim their expectations.
Oakland -- which Realtor.com dubbed the nation's No. 1
"turnaround town" in the second quarter -- saw its median sale price
rise 56 percent in a year, reaching $450,000, according to DataQuick, a real
estate information service that compiled 2004 to 2013 median sale prices per
quarter for this newspaper.
Pittsburg, another community hit
hard by the housing bubble's collapse, was up 54 percent to $270,000; Richmond,
a town racked by foreclosures, rose 52 percent to $230,000. Martinez jumped 27
percent to $422,000; Antioch was up 31 percent to $275,000, while Oakley was up
almost 39 percent to $303,500.
Those cities had some of the lowest
home prices to begin with and were recovering from the biggest post-bubble
declines. In pricier Orinda, where homes sell for $900,000 to $1 million, the
median gained less than 5 percent in the same period.
Across the bay where some places
had already reached their pre-bubble peaks, there were smaller percentage
increases in sale prices over the year. Palo Alto was up only 6.6 percent to
$1.82 million, for instance. San Jose, with more lower-priced houses, gained
22.8 percent to reach a median price of $660,000.
The East Bay's big gains of the
first three quarters of the year are not likely to be repeated in the final
quarter of this year, according to DataQuick.
"It's possible that in lots of
these communities, the biggest gains for a while have been made," said
Andrew LePage of DataQuick. "It's not that we won't see gains next year,
but not as many areas will see 20 to 30 percent year-over-year gains."
Not everyone is happy with the
run-up in prices. The gains -- welcomed by homeowners -- meant lowered
expectations for many who were looking for a home.
Christine Cochrane, who works for
the nonprofit Berkeley Repertory Theatre, began looking for a new home in June
with her partner, Nicole Dickerson, who works at an animal hospital in
Berkeley. With a limit of $400,000, they quickly realized they'd been priced
out of Berkeley.
A home for sale in Union City. (ANDA CHU/Staff
file photo)
"So then we were hoping we
could get into the Richmond Annex neighborhood, but since June we've gotten
priced out of the Annex," said Cochrane, who lives in Richmond.
Now the market may be working in
their favor. "The last house we offered on only got three offers. It seems
like things are maybe slowing down a little bit," she said.
Taking advantage of the drop in
interest rates and the rise in home values, Rich Overby, a staff manager for
AT&T in Walnut Creek, was able to lower his mortgage payments by
refinancing his two-bedroom, two-bath home in Concord, which ended the third
quarter with an annual gain of 38 percent to $520,000.
Overby said he bought his house for
$409,000 in April 2011 with an FHA loan. "The bottom hadn't quite been
reached," Overby said, and he watched the home slide to $380,000 before
shooting up again over the past year.
"In April, I had it
reappraised, and it appraised at $450,000," he said. He refinanced and got
out of the FHA loan's expensive mortgage insurance premiums.
Cities where prices were pumped up
by shoddy lending have the longest climb back. Even with this year's gains,
Oakland and Concord are about 28 percent below their peak sale price; Pittsburg
is 42 percent below; Concord is 28 percent below, and Richmond is nearly 50
percent below its peak. In contrast, Sunnyvale and Los Altos in Santa Clara
County have already regained their peaks, and Belmont and Burlingame in San
Mateo County are less than a percentage point from their highs.
Still, the run-up in home prices
has pulled tens of thousands of homes in Alameda and Contra Costa counties out
from underwater since September 2012, according to CoreLogic. The East Bay
ended the first quarter of this year with 22.3 percent of its homes having
negative equity; by June that had dropped to 15.7 percent, CoreLogic said.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/06/29/196997625/3-things-to-know-about-edward-snowdens-passenger-purgatory
3 Things To Know About Edward
Snowden's Passenger Purgatory
JUNE 29, 2013 2:57 PM ET
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/29/edward-snowden-eu-parliament-vote-extradition
Edward Snowden praises EU parliament
vote against US extradition
The narrowly passed measure called on
member states to protect the whistleblower from prosecution, which he sees as
Ôa chance to move forwardÕ
Thursday 29 October 2015 14.55 EDT
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2013/07/two-accused-of-lewd-photography-in-davis-greenbelt.html
July 11, 2013
Two accused of lewd photography in Davis greenbelt
A man was arrested for allegedly photographing a
woman who disrobed herself to passing bike riders along a Davis greenbelt. The
female flasher was also arrested.
The man, Nicholas Bowen, 61, (pictured right) of
Grizzly Flats, El Dorado County, was seen either taking video or photographs of
Wenyi Xu, 30, (pictured left) of Folsom, about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, according
to Davis police.
Police said that a worker in the municipal
greenbelt near the Covell bike overcrossing on the north side of Community Park
saw a woman exposing herself to two passing juveniles on bikes.
While the woman disrobed in front of the young
people, a man recorded it with a camera. One of the youths was so taken aback
by the sight of the nude woman that he fell off his bike.
Police responded and arrested Xu on suspicion of
indecent exposure, annoying a child and engaging in lewd acts in public. Bowen
was arrested on suspicion of assisting in indecent exposure, annoying a child
and lewd acts in public.
http://www.davisvanguard.org/2014/02/couple-held-to-answer-on-indecent-exposure-charges-at-davis-park/
Couple Held to Answer on Indecent
Exposure Charges at Davis Park
Posted by David Greenwald
Date: February 11, 2014
Further evidence discovered by investigator
Pearson shows disturbing text messages exchanged between Xu and Bowen. On April
25, Xu was found sending a picture to Bowen of herself at the edge of a bed
nude, with her legs spread apart. Also in the group of text messages, Xu is
found sending a picture of her own two-year-old, straddled nude in the same
position at the edge of the same bed.
These pictures were then collaged
and resent back to Xu from BowenÕs phone, along with a text message asking if
Bowen can masturbate while looking at the picture of the two-year-old daughter
nude. Xu responded back with agreement, showing that she was accepting the
disturbing request presented by Bowen.
There were a total of 4,000 text
messages exchanged between Bowen and Xu, many of which show acts of pedophilia.
Although Xu claimed that there was nothing between them, digital evidence
presented by Pearson shows otherwise.
Couzens denied the request of the
defense to reduce the charges to a misdemeanor by stating, ÒXu allowed Bowen to
have exposing pictures of her two-year-old daughter, while also getting kids
aroused by exposing herself to them. She further allowed Bowen to record these
disturbing acts, allowing him to masturbate to the footage of minorsÓ.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/justice/california-teen-slave/
teen held in box on Lake County pot farm
Feds: California teen alleges
captivity, sexual abuse on marijuana 'farm'
By Natalia Perez-Segnini, CNN
Updated 11:18 AM ET, Wed July 31,
2013
Two Northern California men made
brief appearances in federal court Wednesday in what began as another big
pot-growing drug bust but what has become a horrifying story of one teenager's
alleged torment, captivity and sexual abuse.
The criminal complaint against the
two men -- Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 24 -- outlines the
allegations of a 15-year-old girl's ordeal of being held in a coffin-like box
for hours on end at a marijuana-growing "farm" where she worked
trimming plants.
Balletto and Pearmain were criminally
charged in federal court earlier this month -- and are in custody without bail
-- with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute more than 1,000 marijuana
plants and with using a minor in a drug operation. Additionally Pearmain faces
state charges of kidnapping to commit robbery or rape and unlawful sex with a
minor. Balletto faces state charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a child.
They appeared before a federal judge
during a three-minute hearing Wednesday, according to court records. No pleas
were entered, and arraignment of the two is set for Friday in federal court,
according to records.
Efforts Wednesday to reach attorneys
for the two men were not successful.
The girl sometimes was held in a
metal toolbox 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet high, authorities said.
According to the criminal complaint, she told authorities that the men
"put her in the box to 'teach' her because they had a 'point to
prove.'"
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23495026
FBI 'saves 105 trafficked
children in 76 US cities'
29 July 2013
The FBI says it has rescued 105
children and arrested 150 pimps in 76 US cities over the weekend, in an
operation against child prostitution.
The largest numbers of children
rescued were in San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans.
FBI assistant director Ronald
Hosko said the Operation Cross Country VII raids had been the agency's largest
action against child exploitation.
The FBI said 2,700 children have
been rescued in such US raids since 2003.
The victims in the most recent
raids were almost all girls and range in age from 13 to 17.
They had been prostituted in a
variety of locations, including truck stops, casinos, motels as well as on
social media and online advertisements.
Mr Hosko said the accused had
preyed on vulnerable teenagers, exploiting them over a period of time.
"Girls are enticed with
compliments or offers, [asked] do they want to make some money," he said.
"Then they are trapped into
this cycle that involves drugs, that involves physical abuse. It may involve
torture."
Since 2003, some 1,350 people
have been convicted in such cases, including life prison sentences for 10
pimps, the FBI said.
Assets of more than $3.1m (£2m)
have been seized.
The US justice department has
estimated as many as 450,000 children run away from home each year.
It says a third of teens living
on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving
home.
Some lawmakers have said further
legal protections are needed.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has
introduced a bill to require local police, as well as foster care and child
welfare programmes to identify children lured into sex trafficking as victims
of abuse and neglect, making them eligible for protection and services.
"In much of the country
today if a girl is found in the custody of a so-called pimp she is not
considered to be a victim of abuse, and that's just wrong and defies common
sense," Sen Wyden said during a hearing last month.
JULY 31, 2013
http://world.time.com/2013/08/01/burka-avenger-conservative-pakistans-new-animated-liberal-superheroine/
Burka Avenger: Conservative PakistanÕs New Animated Liberal Superheroine
By Krista Mahr @kristamahrAug. 01, 2013
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/28/pennsylvania-widow-loses-home-6-tax-lien/8432411/
Pa. judge upholds sale of widow's
home over $6 tax bill
Michael
Winter, USA TODAY 1:04
a.m. EDT April 29, 2014
A Pennsylvania county judge has again ruled against a widow who
lost her home because of an unpaid $6.30 interest charge for paying her school
taxes late.
Beaver County Common Pleas Judge Gus Kwidis ruled that Eileen
Battisti, of Aliquippa, was properly notified about the September 2011 tax sale
of her home, which was valued at about $280,000 and sold at auction for
$116,000. The decision last Tuesday followed an evidentiary hearing
ordered by a higher court, which last April overturned his earlier ruling upholding the sale.
Battisti, who still lives in the house, told the Associated
Press on Monday that she would appeal.
"I paid everything, and didn't know about the $6.30,"
she said. "For the house to be sold just because of $6.30 is crazy."
Her attorney told the Beaver County Times that it was
" something out of the ordinary" for a home to be sold for such a
small tax claim.
Beaver County's top solicitor defended the decision.
"The county never wants to see anybody lose their home, but
at the same time the tax sale law, the tax real estate law, doesn't give a
whole lot of room for error, either," Joe Askar told AP.
The dispute involves school district taxes, penalties and
interest for 2008, which Battisti paid in early May 2009. But because her
payment was six days late, an additional interest payment of $6.30 was added.
Battisti said she was never notified of the overdue interest after country tax
authorities credited her account.
When her home was sold, the Tax Claim Bureau of Beaver County
said she was delinquent $234.72.
Battisti sued the county and the man who bought her house, S.P.
Lewis.
Battisti and her husband, Anthony, bought their home in 1999.
Five years later, he died, leaving her with the household finances and taxes,
which he had handled. She paid off the mortgage from his life insurance but
fell behind on property taxes.
In appealing the sale, Battisti told the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania that she "has
struggled to assume responsibility for the financial matters previously handled
by her husband," in addition to "physical and emotional challenges
that have caused her to be tardy in paying taxes."
Those challenges included "a serious physical injury
suffered by her daughter, the murder of her son's best friend at college, and a
serious physical injury that kept Taxpayer out of work for some time."
In April 2013, the court ordered a new hearing, saying Battisti
had been denied due process.
Tax records show that as of last week she has an outstanding balance of
more than $20,000, including penalties and interest, for county, municipal and
school taxes from 2009 to 2013.
Eileen Battisti's husband died in 2004, five years after they
bought their home. Valued at $280,000, it sold at a 2011 sheriff's sale for
$116,000.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/german-woman-lost-arm-hawaii-shark-attack-dies-article-1.1433313
German woman who lost arm in Hawaii shark attack dies
Jana
Lutteropp, 20, was on life support after she was bitten by a shark while
snorkeling off Maui on Aug. 14. 'Jana fought hard to stay alive,' her mother
and sister said in a statement.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated: Thursday, August 22, 2013, 1:28 AM
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/08/455232301/read-two-personal-statements-that-help-explain-the-situation-at-mizzou
The first one is a personal
statement from Alexis G. Ditaway, a Missouri student majoring in journalism and minoring in
black studies. She wrote about what she says was a racially charged campus
experience.
A warning: Both statements include a racial epithet.
To Whom It May Concern:
The University of Missouri has held
itself true to four central values. Respect, Discovery, Excellence and
Responsibility can be seen heavily displayed around our university's campus.
From hanging on our iconic columns, to being the names of four of our residence
halls, Mizzou markets these ideals and states that they will "pledge
ourselves to act, in the totality of our life together, in accord with these
values."
It is with great disappointment,
however, that I am writing this statement to express how these ideals were,
once again, not reflected due to the actions of my fellow students.
On Friday, November 6th, 2015 at
approximately 11:15pm, Amber Letbetter, a current United Ambassador and 2015
Legion of Black Collegians Homecoming Royalty Court Member, and I were walking
to the Mizzou Rec Center for the LBC Freshman Action Team's annual dodgeball
event. After attempting to enter through the main entrance and seeing that it
was locked, we decided to take the walking trail located inbetween the Rec
Center and the HawLeWood Residence Hall area in order to enter through the
entrance closest to the sand volleyball courts.
As we were walking, we see four
young Caucasian men, who looked as if they could be freshmen or sophomores,
also walking along the trail and approaching us. They were all wearing white
buttondown dress shirts and neckties. Amber and I quickly noticed that
they were intoxicated, as one of them was being held up by two of his friends.
The fourth one was wearing a backwards baseball cap and was walking behind the
other three.
As we began to grow closer in
proximity to the group of young men, I noticed the most heavily intoxicated of
the four was recording a Snapchat video. Seeing us walk by, he takes a look at
both Amber and I. Then, he proceeded to look back towards his phone camera and
said loudly "You're a nigger."
There was a silence among all six
of us, as Amber and I stopped walking out of shock that the young man would
boldly make such a statement. The young man that was walking behind them quickly
slapped his friend's shoulder and said "Hey, you can't SAY that."
Then turned to me (at this point, we were right in front of each other), said
"He wasn't talking to you guys." and the entire group proceeded to
walk off.
Amber and I stood there for a few
moments afterward, in anger and disbelief that something like this could
happen, especially in light of the protesting currently occurring on our
campus. After discussing what to do next, Amber contacted MUPD, who told her
they would patrol the area in search of the suspects and would contact her for
further information. After settling down after the emotion of the situation, I
made a follow up call with MUPD and was told the same information.
To be a student at an
"elite" university and be disrespected in such a way is
disappointing. To know that just a month ago, a similar event occurred in which
the LBC Homecoming Royalty Court, of which I was selected as Royalty Duchess,
were also called "niggers" is disheartening. And to have this event
occur in the midst of the protesting and action being taken by
#ConcernedStudent1950 , yet we are still questioned as to why we continue to
fight against administration is absolutely insane.
What hurts me the most, however, is
that no matter how much I fight to make this university better by involving
myself in organizations, taking on leadership positions, and aspiring to
becoming one of Mizzou's notable alumni, the fact that the university I love
does not love me back is constantly thrown in my face. My experience is far too
similar to the experiences of many other AfricanAmerican students on this
campus. Yet, Mizzou continues to overshadow these issues with well written PR
statements, campus wide movements and initiatives that never tackle the issue
head on, and endless emails that acknowledge our struggles but never give
action to them. We walk around this campus knowing that on any given day, there
will be another racial issue. We go to classes with our white peers knowing
that not only will they never understand our struggles, but many of them will
refuse to try. We go to a university where the only place many of us feel
comfortable is in a Black Studies class. This is unacceptable, and the
university has made very little progress towards changing the racial climate
here.
I don't have all the answers as to
how to create a bigger change here. I'm not certain as to what plan can be
followed to ensure that these incidents never happen again. What I do know, is
that ALL of Mizzou, from students, to staff and faculty, to administration,
needs to understand that the AfricanAmerican population is important to
this campus, and just as worthy of feeling comfortable here as anyone else. I,
and the rest of my fellow black students, refuse to allow the ignorance on this
campus to discourage me from receiving the education I need and deserve. We
have earned our spot here, and the university needs to recognize that ALL of
its students need to feel included and safe. We aren't going anywhere.
Respectfully, Alexis G. Ditaway
P.S. To the young man who so
proudly informed me that I am a Nigger. I want you to know that that term is
something that stems from my ancestor's past. In this present time, there are
so many other labels you could have referenced me with, such as member of the
National Association of Black Journalists, Programming Coordinator for your
Mizzou Residence Hall Association, Student Success Center Ambassador, or, quite
simply, my actual name. However, if knowing all of this still doesn't keep you
from allowing the term "nigger" to escape your mouth, I'm more than
willing to meet with you in person during my office hours on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays to discuss why you feel the way that you do. Perhaps me
showing you some Respect and taking the Responsibility to show you black
Excellence, will lead you on a Discovery of becoming a better person.
The next one comes from Dr. Cynthia M. Frisby, who teaches strategic communication at the Missouri School of
Journalism. She wrote a long post on her Facebook feed, which we have
re-printed here with permission:
I have been silent on FB about the
racial situation on the Mizzou campus for a variety of reasons, but the main
one is this: some of my friends say and post updates that are really hurtful
and offensive when it comes to race and offending people of color and I keep
quiet because I just don't think Facebook is the place to hold arguments or
candid discussions of race. Think about it: No one changes their attitudes or
beliefs after seeing offending posts and respond to the post by saying:
"Oh my God,Thank you for showing me that I am a racist" or "Oh
my God, because of you, I just realized that I am so privileged."
However, after many events on and
off campus over recent months, I feel I have to say something and say it here.
(You know this is going to be long, right? LOL)
I have lived in Columbia and been
at the University for almost 18 years. During this time, I have been called the
n word too many times to count. Some of you may recall my most recent
experience while jogging on Route K in May of 2015 when I was approached by a
white man in a white truck with a confederate flag very visible and proudly
displayed. He leaned out his window (now keep in mind I run against traffic so
his behavior was a blatant sign that something was about to happen). Not only
did he spit at me, he called me the n-word and gave me the finger. Of course, I
responded with "Oh yea, get out of your car you coward and say that to my
face." He then raced off. Typical. Others of you may recall that after the
Zimmerman trial, I wrote about my experiences being called the n word twice
while I was on my jog. And yes, I have had a few faculty call me the n word and
treat me with incredible disrespect. Yes, faculty. I have had a student who
said he couldn't call me Dr. Frisby because that would mean that he thinks I am
smart and he was told that blacks are not smart and do not earn degrees without
affirmative action. Yes, true story. I have so many stories to share that it
just doesn't make sense to put them all here.
What I am responding to is the
frequent question I have been asked all week: How have I endured these many
hateful experiences for over 17 years? I endured because God allows me to see
the good and cup half full. I endured because I know my life is in God's hands
and I do not walk alone. I endured because I find these to be teachable moments
that I use in my classroom with my students. I endured (or better yet endure)
because I have an amazing support system. I endure because there are far too
many of my white friends that have a heart of gold, love people of any color
with a passion and who have a strong trust in and love for the Lord. I endure
because I have friends who are white and daily show me that there are people
who can hurt when I do and who sincerely want to make this culture a better
place. I endure because I look to the Lord to help me grow and be the best
person I can be. I endure because I CHOSE AND CHOOSE to endure and overcome and
I choose to overlook ignorance. Choosing to overlook these idiots doesn't make
me a "sell-out" or be an uncle tom. I choose to endure because my mom
and civil rights leaders taught me to never run but stand straight, tall and do
not run. Racism is alive and it's everywhere. I endure because what I have gone
through is nothing like what my mom went through in the 50s and 60s nor is it
even close to what my Lord and Savior had to endure while on the earth (he,
too, was spat at, made fun of and even nailed to a cross simply because He
loved us/me that much). Yes, we are better off now than we were in the 50s but
to some extent we are taking many steps backward by ignoring or not talking
about the racial issues.
We need to have open discussions
where people share their ignorance and learn from people who are different (I
do this in my classroom every day and we learn and I learn so much.) So where
am I going with this post?
I understand the anger. I
understand that we've had enough. I also understand and agree with my friend
Traci Wilson-kleekamp when she wrote "Jonathan L. Butler and #ConcernedStudent1950 please give space for mistakes, listening, learning and
dialogue. This on the job training thing is powerful because it is SO VERY
PUBLIC." I not only see this as on the job training for our administrators
at MU, but I also see it as training for some of my very educated white
friends.
The saddest of all things for me is
to see how a few of my white friends are responding to these events and basic
conflicts in race relations in our nation (i.e., police shootings, the
President, etc). It hurts my heart when I see posts from these friends that
make fun of us because we find things hurtful like dressing up in black face
costumes or confederate flags flying high in my neighborhood. What bothers me
is that the few of my white friends who feel this way have not taken time or
energy to reach out to me and ask me why these things hurt or to understand
what is going on or even send an email saying they are confused. For the two
friends that have in the recent days, thank YOU. That speaks volumes of your
openness to understand. You are not even saying that you agree, you just want
to hear from me and my thoughts and experiences. Kudos to being open. Unlike my
"other" so-called acquaintances. Instead they take to social media
and make jokes of the students, say things like "oh my God, what else are
these people going to find offensive?" or even dumber things like "i
guess next year I will dress up as nothing." By the way: The Halloween
costume event is not about not dressing up like someone, but it is about dressing
up as characters not as a race of people. It is the heart and intent of a
person.
I write this post to ask if those
folks who find that the situation on campus is ridiculous to please be a little
more open minded. Ask questions. Do your research. Heaven forbid you will put
yourself in their shoes. Maybe you should dress up in black face and spend a
month walking around in that costume and maybe then you will understand how we
feel when you walk in a room or a store and get treated like a second class
citizen. Maybe then you will understand that our feelings about being
constantly referred to as niggers is more than "just getting over
it." Maybe then you will understand why telling the students to get their
"a@&S" in class because they are making much a do about nothing hurts
and doesn't solve the problem.
I am much more than the n word. I
am an educated black woman who happens to have worked hard for my PhD. I am a
mom. I am a grandmother. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am an auntie. I am a
cousin. I am loved by my family and friends. I am smart. I am funny (or so I
think). I am a Christian who loves the Lord Jesus with my whole heart. I would
die for Him as He died for us. I am YOUR FRIEND! Yes, I am all of these things.
There is so much more to me than the n-word implies. Please consider that when
you criticize the events on campus. yes, I am silly. yes, I am a drama queen
who thinks I should have been born a celebrity. But what I am not is a nigger!
Let me just say that. Consider that you have a friend who deserves and simply
wants to be treated equally. You have an know a friend who jogs on route k and
wants to do that without fear that some kids in a car will think it is funny to
yell at me and pretend that they will run me off the road. Know that you have a
friend who wants to walk out every day with confidence that she will not be
spat on or yelled euphemisms simply because of the color of her skin. To make
things better in our world, that would be a start. Does this make any sense?