truesee's Blog

More than a dozen city workers arrested, charged with drinking, gambling on duty

Tip to city officials led police to city office

Peter Hermann, The Baltimore Sun

10:14 PM EDT, March 26, 2011

Baltimore authorities broke up what they described as a regular "payday" gambling game involving more than a dozen city transportation workers who police said were arrested Friday after being caught drinking champagne and playing dice in a city office.

The roundup occurred in a Department of Transportation building on East Madison Street and was sparked by a tip to city officials who contacted the inspector general's office, which investigates corruption, fraud and waste in city offices.

Agents from the inspector general's office went unannounced to the building Friday afternoon and called police when it became apparent that there was criminal activity. A city police spokesman said several workers scattered when agents arrived and one was charged with assaulting an investigator.

"Although these are not violent crimes, it's particularly egregious because it's a violation of the public trust," said the Baltimore Police Department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. "These are city employees who are paid by the taxpayers, and they are expected to work. They shouldn't be gambling and drinking on the city's dime."

The 13 workers involved were described as relatively low-level employees assigned to the transportation department's Special Events unit. Their duties include setting up and working at area festivals. They were handcuffed and taken to the Central Booking and Intake Center.

Police said they charged each with misdemeanor gambling offenses and most were released on low bails or were still being processed Saturday. One worker, Michael Flowers, 68, was also charged with one count of assault.

A review of electronic court records shows that six of the employees have been convicted of serious criminal offenses, and one person is on probation in a gun possession case. Six workers have clean records, and a seventh has been arrested twice on assault charges but not convicted.

Three workers have extensive records, including one who has been convicted seven times between 1995 and 2009 on drug possession or drug distribution charges. He has served prison or jail time ranging from one day to four years, the records show.

Another worker has been convicted six times of drug offenses and twice of possessing a handgun, all between 2002 and 2009, according to the records. That worker served between two years and four years in prison. Yet another employee has been convicted five times of drug offenses between 1997 and 2004, serving between one year and five years in prison.

One employee has one conviction and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2001 for drug distribution.

Adrienne Barnes, a spokeswoman for the city transportation department, said officials will review the backgrounds of the employees starting Monday. Records of when the workers were hired or whether any were convicted while employed by the city were not available over the weekend.

Many of the workers who were arrested appear to be seasonal help, earning no more than $15,000 a year, according to a database of city employee salaries for 2010. The two highest paid, according to the database, were two drivers who last year earned, with overtime, $37,000 and $49,000.

In Friday's case, Guglielmi said that the tipster had notified the transportation department, which in turned reported the allegation to the inspector general's office that workers were gambling each Friday, which is payday. The office sent agents to investigate, and "sure enough there was a gambling operation," the spokesman said.

Authorities said that the agents "observed several employees on duty throwing dice and consuming alcohol." They said the agents found a bottle of Remy champagne and cash in the middle of the office floor. They said $6,300 was seized.

The agents with the inspector's office do not have arrest powers. Guglielmi said that "a couple employees became unruly and a couple ran in different directions." The agents called city police, and officers from the Eastern District responded.

Barnes said the workers have been suspended without pay pending the results of an investigation. In a statement, she said that "any activity that undermines the integrity of the transportation department will not be tolerated."

Both Barnes and Guglielmi said this case demonstrates the city's ability "to police itself."

LINK TO UPDATED STORY AND VIDEO:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-gambling-employees-follow-20110328,0,276772.story

To the brain, getting burned, getting dumped feel the same

(Health.com) -- Science has finally confirmed what anyone who's ever been in love already knows: Heartbreak really does hurt.

In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you're burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you.

In other words, the brain doesn't appear to firmly distinguish between physical pain and intense emotional pain. Heartache and painful breakups are "more than just metaphors," says Ethan Kross, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

Health.com: How to keep chronic pain from straining your friendships

The study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, illuminates the role that feelings of rejection and other emotional trauma can play in the development of chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia, Kross says. And, he adds, it raises interesting questions about whether treating physical pain can help to relieve emotional pain, and vice versa.

"What's exciting about these findings," he says, "is that they outline the direct way in which emotional experiences can be linked to the body."

Kross and his colleagues recruited 21 women and 19 men who had no history of chronic pain or mental illness but who had all been dumped by a romantic partner within the previous six months. The volunteers underwent fMRI scans -- which measure brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow -- during two painful tasks.

Health.com: 6 mistakes pain patients make

In the first, a heat source strapped to each subject's left arm created physical pain akin to "holding a hot cup of coffee without the sleeve," Kross says. In the second, the volunteers were asked to look at photos of their lost loves and were prompted to remember specific experiences they shared with that person.

Other fMRI research has examined how social rejection manifests in the brain, but this study was the first to show that rejection can elicit a response in two brain areas associated with physical pain: the secondary somatosensory cortex and the dorsal posterior insula. Those brain regions may have lit up in this study but not others because the rejection his volunteers experienced was unusually intense, Kross says.

Although Kross stresses that the study is "very much a first step" in understanding the connection between physical and emotional pain, the findings may help chronic pain patients grasp that emotions can affect their physical condition, says psychologist Judith Scheman, Ph.D., director of the chronic pain rehabilitation program at the Cleveland Clinic.

Health.com: Is chronic pain ruining your relationship?

Past traumas can make people more sensitive to pain and thus more susceptible to disorders like fibromyalgia, which causes both chronic pain and fatigue, Scheman says. She and her staff encourage pain patients to "explore their emotional trauma and baggage," but many are reluctant to do so.

"As a clinician, I like studies like this because patients often don't understand why they have to do painful emotional work," Scheman continues. "Showing them something like this helps them understand that there is science behind what I am asking them to do."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-28-1Aschooltesting28_CV_N.htm?csp=hf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370371/Vice-President-Joe-Bidens-staff-lock-journalist-closet-stop-talking-guests.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/28/rush-limbaugh-michelle-obama-style_n_841286.html

Sun, Mar. 27, 2011

Strong corporate profits amid weak economy - What's up with that?

Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: March 28, 2011 12:17:21 PM

http://abcnews.go.com/US/ufo-sighting-spooks-lafayette-colorado-town/story?id=13235459

Claiming a DuPage County judge’s scolding made him cry, Jonovan Brown allegedly threatened to get even — by killing the judge.

“The judge made me cry. I’m going to make him cry — I’m going to kill him,” prosecutor Diane Michalak quoted Brown as saying after he was taken from Judge Robert Kleeman’s courtroom recently.

Brown, 20, was in court for an animal cruelty charge and threatening a man and a woman who had witnessed that alleged abuse.

The Villa Park man now is facing something else that could make him shed tears — he’s been charged with threatening a public official, a felony that could send him to prison for up to five years.

A grand jury indicted Brown this week for allegedly making the threat against Kleeman after a March 12 bond hearing.

During that hearing, Kleeman warned Brown he would find him in contempt of court if Brown continued to disrupt the proceedings with verbal outbursts.

A tearful Brown allegedly made the threat to officers who had taken him out of the courtroom following the hearing, Michalak said

LINK TO PHOTO OF BROWN:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/4512201-418/villa-park-man-allegedly-threatens-to-kill-judge-who-made-him-cry.html

http://www.suntimes.com/4205457-417/3-billion-owed-in-child-support.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/earth_like_youve_never_seen_it/earth_like_youve_never_seen_it.html

Hamilton Radio Shack offers free gun with new Dish Network service

WHITNEY BERMES - Ravalli Republic Friday, March 25, 2011 9:45 pm

When driving down U.S. Highway 93 through Hamilton, there's no need to do a double-take when you see the sign hanging above the Radio Shack Super Store.

You read it right. Customers who buy Dish Network will be rewarded with a firearm.

"I think it really, really fits the Bitterroot Valley," said Steve Strand, who has owned Hamilton's Radio Shack for about seven years.

Strand, along with store manager Fabian Levy, wanted to generate more foot traffic at their location. So far, the gun giveaway has worked like a charm.

"It's been really successful," Levy said.

According to Strand, it has tripled his business since the promotion started last October. And, he said, easily hundreds of people have stopped in to see what the sign is all about. "Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun," the sign reads.

"We have people literally stop in to take pictures of the sign," Levy said.

Qualifying customers have the choice between a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun.

The deal is only good for new Dish Network customers and they must buy a certain amount of equipment to qualify for the free gun.

After the customer signs a service contract and sets up an install date, they are given a gift certificate for their gun. They can also opt for a $50 gift card from Pizza Hut if they prefer, Strand said. And customers who purchase new Dish Network service that don't qualify for a firearm are still given the Pizza Hut gift card.

The gift certificate is good at Frontier Guns & Ammo, located north of Hamilton on Sheafman Creek Road. They are then put through a background check, also free with the promotion, before receiving their gun.

"We're not just giving guns to felons," Levy said.

The idea for the promotion wasn't anything scientific. A friend of Strand's made the suggestion and, "I thought, ‘Why don't we?' " Strand said.

With all the interest his promotion has garnered, there was one trend.

"You'd be surprised how many women are interested in guns," Strand said, noting he has had many women in their 60s and 70s drop in to learn about the promotion.

"I was quite surprised,"Strand said.

Strand said since starting the promotion, he has gotten good feedback.

"We've received a tremendous amount of positive reactions," Strand said.

He said of the hundreds of people who have stopped by because of the sign, only one person reacted negatively.

"They didn't understand how it works," he said.

Strand also said that other Radio Shack owners he has talked to across the state, in places like Havre and Malta, are too scared to try similar promotions.

"There is a risk involved," Strand said.

Dish Network allots advertising dollars to the store to promote Dish, but the gun promotion has made them skittish.

"They've never had a gun promotion before, so they're a little nervous about it," Strand said. "It's been an uphill battle with Dish."

After a few months of volleying with the company, however, Strand was given the go-ahead to start advertising.

"If we can get that promotion out there, things could go crazy," Strand said.

They aren't sure how much longer they will continue the promotion, but they will be doing the same deal next month with Direct TV packages.

"I kind of thought this promotion was a joke at first, but as things picked up, I realized it was working," Levy said.

9 books Bill Gates thinks you should read

1. Collapse, by Jared Diamond

In "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" Pulitzer Prize-winner Jared Diamond explains why some societies – from the Anasazi of the American Southwest to the Viking colonies of Greenland to present-day Rwanda – have collapsed

2. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman

Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard P. Feynman offers up chunks of personal wisdom in this unorthodoxly structured autobiography. Like Gates himself, Feynman is an original and out-of-the-box thinker.

3. Smallpox, by D.A. Henderson

"Smallpox: The Death of a Disease" by D.A. Henderson tells the story of the eradication of a disease that, Henderson says, between 1879-1979, killed more people than "all the wars on the planet during that time."

4. Physics for Dummies, by Steve Holzner

This addition to the popular "for dummies" franchise covers everything from vectors to relativity to atomic structures in language that laymen can follow.

5. Sustainable Energy, by David J.C. MacKay

In "Sustainable Energy: Opportunities and Limitations," Cambridge University academic and British government adviser David J.C. MacKay examines energy alternatives and the challenges involved in making significant global changes.

6. Work Hard. Be Nice. by Jay Mathews

Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews provides an inspiring profile of Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, the young Teach for America teachers who went on to found the the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools, dedicated to proving that children in low-income neighborhoods can excel when offered the right school environment.

7. Physics for Future Presidents, by Richard A. Muller

In "Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines," physicist Richard A. Muller lays out the basics of science that the chief executive officer of the United States would most need to know, dealing with everything from the risks of nuclear power to the viability of alternative fuels.

8. Polio, by David M. Oshinsky

In "Polio: An American Story" historian David M. Oshinsky tells the story of the race for a vaccine against polio, including the consuming rivalry between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.

9. Energy: Myths and Realities by Vaclav Smil

In "Energy: Myths and Realities: Bringing Science to the Energy Policy Debate," Canadian academic Vaclav Smil works to cut through the leading misconceptions that he believes are preventing governments and the public from charting clear solutions to the global energy crisis.

Sheila Gardner

Exclusive

 

Van Buren, Times Union/AP

 

Richard C. Iannuzzi, , President, NYSUT, (l.) and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan head a round table with teams of teachers at NYSUT headquarters in Latham, N.Y.

New York State United Teachers hosts more than 150 conferences a year at some 50 rustic retreats, lakefront lodges and oceanfront hotels - even though it has a conference center near its Albany headquarters.

That means union members and brass average three powwows a week as they wine and dine from Montauk to Niagara Falls, a Daily News review of union spending found.

Funded by its 575,000 members' dues, the teachers union dropped $3.8 million on conferences last year - plus $225,000 more for catering and $231,000 for 14 photographers who snapped pictures of the parleys, documents show.

All told, the union has shelled out nearly $17 million since 2005, with their two favorite spots being Gurney's Inn Resort & Spa in Montauk ($2.1 million) and the Otesaga Resort Hotel near the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown ($2.4 million).

For entertainment, it paid $9,500 for the Capitol Steps comedy troupe and $25,505 for the Okie Dokie Nightclub, both in Washington.

To get to upstate hot spots, union employees can take advantage of the union's $1.8 million fleet of more than 155 vehicles. Rank-and-file members can bill their locals for tolls and mileage.

Extravagant union spending has continued even as Mayor Bloomberg threatens to ax 4,700 city teachers and union lobbyists fight to salvage "last in, first out," which bases firing on seniority.

Last month The News revealed how the city's United Federation of Teachers, the state union's largest local affiliate, blew $1.4 million on a 50th anniversary gala.

"NYSUT talks about shared sacrifice, but the taxpayer makes the sacrifice and foots the bills for its frivolous spending," said Jason Brooks of the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability, a charter school advocacy group and union critic.

"School taxes pay the salaries of teachers, who are required to pay union dues, which go to fund junkets at five-star resorts."

Dick Iannuzzi, NYSUT's $294,313-a-year president, declined comment, but spokesman Carl Korn insisted the trips were training sessions, not junkets.

Conferences offer invaluable training on standards, testing, teacher evaluation and all aspects of the job, he said.

"It's absolutely essential," said Korn. "It provides the skills they need to advocate for members and fight for what students and schools need to succeed."

Korn said the union has 16 regional offices and each holds a summer, fall and winter conference, as well as policy and health conferences and others.

He noted that the union's conference center in upstate Latham hosts hundreds of meetings a year, but its 150-seat auditorium is too small for many workshops.

With few upstate union facilities able to handle some 300 people, NYSUT seeks venues near its members and books off-season to get big discounts, Korn said.

"Our financial operations are transparent - and our members get every penny's worth in the representation they receive from NYSUT," he said

About $86,000 worth of those pennies paid for a "summer leadership conference" at Skytop Lodge in the Poconos, which offers archery and lawn bowling. The conference featured workshops on benefits, bargaining - and investment tips.

Union dissidents also provided The News with some locals' newsletters openly boasting of the perks at conferences:

"The accommodations were top shelf," wrote Al Cotoia, vice president of NYSUT Local 15-175, after a $268,732 conference at the Wyndham Princeton Forrestal Hotel in New Jersey. "There was unlimited access to refreshments and food."

Until it closed in 2009, the storied Rainbow Room was a union hangout and scene of a $118,875 party held after a "presidents conference" at the New York Hilton.

NYSUT Local 3882, which represents staffers at NYU, recounted a postconference party like this: "After a day packed with workshops, local presidents were treated to an evening of dining and dancing at New York's legendary Rainbow Room. Your president had a wonderful time."

NYSUT's reports to the U.S. Labor Department also show the parent union splurging at:

• Otesaga Resort Hotel, with its private tours of the Baseball Hall of Fame and 700 feet of Lake Otsego shorefront. Tab for conferences in 2010: $488,110.

• Gurney's Inn, which features karaoke, stand-up comedy and a seawater spa. Regional workshop tab: $235,602.

• Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, where 4,200 slot machines await. Regional conference cost: $69,643.