truesee's Blog

Lottery Prize Home Destroyed in $2,000,000 Blaze

 

DAVE DORMER
SUN MEDIA
The Calgary Sun
February 11, 2009

 


Firefighters check the remains yesterday of a home in Cranston which was the grand prize in a lottery. It's believed the fire spread from a nearby construction site before engulfing the home. (Lyle Aspinall/Sun Media)


 

CALGARY -- Dreams were reduced to rubble yesterday as fire destroyed two homes in the southeast community of Cranston, one of which was awarded as the grand prize in the Foothills Hospital Home Lottery.

Fire crews were called to the 100 block of Cranleigh Terrace S.E. about 1:15 a.m. after the blaze broke out at a home under construction.

That building was reduced to ashes and flames quickly spread to a neighbouring house -- which was a grand prize dream home in the Foothills hospital draw three years ago -- where a family of three was sleeping inside.

The family managed to dial 911 before escaping and alerting others in the neighourhood.

Andrew Choi, 46, and his daughter, Angela, 14, were asleep in the home next to the fire when someone started banging on their door.

"He saved us," said Andrew about his neighbour, Les Walker, who escaped the fire with his wife and son.

Watching flames lick at their home was a terrifying experience, said Angela.

"It was just huge and frightening," she said. "I was scared that my house was going to go up too. It got close but (firefighters) stopped it."

Walker bought the home from the lotto winners, whom neighbours said moved back to Ontario a few months after winning the draw.

Dick Patterson lives across the street and said he was worried about his own house burning. "All I heard was what sounded like a couple guys yelling," he said.

"I thought it was just a few drunks having a party then I looked out my back and saw some embers floating down and thought 'whoa, it's time to put some clothes on and get out.' "

Calgary Fire Department spokesman Jeff Budai said damage is estimated at $2 million, but it could have been much worse.

"We basically ended up going with a defensive attack," he said.

"We had fire crews putting up a wall to ensure it didn't extend to the third house. We were fortunate there was no heavy winds. If we were looking at the winds we had last week, we'd probably be look at a few more homes destroyed."

Entry #122

Man Accidentally Shoots Himself While At Hospital

February 10th, 2009 @ 7:27pm

 

LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) - A man who reached into his pocket to pay for lunch at a hospital cafeteria in Lafayette accidentally shot himself with the gun in his pocket. Police and officials at Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center said it was an unfortunate accident.

 

Officials said 59-year-old Steve Tapp of Thornton was treated at the hospital and released. No one else was hurt.

 

Officials said Tapp, who was visiting family at the hospital, shot himself in the right thigh Tuesday. Security guards responded and took the gun.

 

Tapp faces possible misdemeanor charges of unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon, prohibited use of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

 

The hospital forbids guns, although no sign was posted Tuesday stating the policy.

Entry #121

Wrigley's Gum Suspends Chris Brown Commercial, Rihanna Silent

           

Musicians Chris Brown and Rihanna perform during the Z100 Jingle Ball in New

Rihanna and Chris Brown perform

at the Z100 Jingle Ball in New York

in December.

                                                     

Jill Sergeant 

2/10/09

1:25 AM EST 

                                                               

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Chewing gum makers Wrigley on Monday suspended a commercial featuring Chris Brown after the popular R&B singer was arrested on suspicion of attacking a woman widely reported to be his singer girlfriend Rihanna.

The clean-cut Brown, 19, one of the fastest-rising stars of the last two years, was free on $50,000 bail, a day after the couple hurriedly canceled separate performances at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Both the Brown and Rihanna camps were silent on Monday. Police sources told the Los Angeles Times and celebrity Web site TMZ.com that the woman who reported she had been attacked by Brown in the early hours of Sunday was 20-year-old Rihanna, singer of hits "Umbrella" and "Disturbia."

Wrigley said in a statement it was "concerned by the serious allegations" made against Brown, who was booked by police on suspicion of making a felony criminal threat.

The company said that while Brown should be afforded due legal process "we have made the decision to suspend the current advertising featuring Brown...until the matter is resolved."

Brown, who was competing against Rihanna in a Grammy category, was a spokesman for Doublemint gum and his hit song "Forever" was part of that advertising campaign.

Brown is also a pitchman for the long-running Got Milk? campaign, in which celebrities are photographed with a milk mustache. The Milk Processor Education Program said his participation was scheduled to end this week, as planned.

"The Milk Mustache campaign is taking the allegations against Chris Brown very seriously," the Washington, D.C.-based trade group said in a statement. "We are very proud and protective of the image of the Milk Mustache campaign and the responsible message it sends to teens."

The incident appeared to be out of character for Brown, who has been dating Barbados-born Rihanna for about a year and helped produce her album.

She was variously reported to have been left bruised, bleeding and even bitten in the attack, which took place shortly after she and Brown left a pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills on Saturday night.

Police said the woman "suffered visible injuries" in the incident, which started in a car and continued as both parties got out. Los Angeles prosecutors are considering whether to formally charge Brown, who could face up to three years in prison if convicted, legal sources said.

Celebrity Web site Radaronline quoted an unidentified eyewitness who said she had seen Rihanna being treated at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday.

"Rihanna was clearly very upset by what happened and I could hear her screaming. Rihanna was trying to get her point across about something. She sounded like she was crying," the eyewitness told Radaronline.com.

Rihanna's publicist issued a brief statement on Sunday saying: "Rihanna is well. Thank you for concern and support."

Fans of both Rihanna and Brown, who made his name at age 16 with the single "Run It", were shocked by the incident.

People magazine pondered what had gone wrong, calling it a "Fairy-tale romance gone awry". One of hundreds of postings on the Us Weekly Web site said; "I just don't understand. it's so out of character of him. i really want to know the real story. i just can't believe he beat some girl. doesn't seem like him what so ever."

 

Entry #119

Probation Officers Catches Man Smoking Pot, Hides Statch In Diapers

MINQUADALE, Del. (AP)

4:22 PM EST

2/09/09

 

A Delaware man is accused of hiding marijuana in diapers.

New Castle County police say Dysheen Randell, 26, was smoking marijuana and planning to sell it when probation officers stopped by his house for a routine check. Randell tried to hide the marijuana inside diapers that were for two infants in the home.

Police found 45 grams of the drug in one diaper and 34 grams inside another. Police also found prescription pills and drug paraphernalia.

Randell has been charged with possession with the intent to deliver marijuana and other drug offenses. He's also charged with two counts of unlawful dealing with a child.

Randell's brother, Joseph Randell-Douglas, 18, and another man, Robert Perdue, 23, face the same charges.

Entry #118

Chris Brown, R & B Pop Singer, Arrested

ANTHONY McCARTNEY
Ap Entertainment Writer
3:58 AM  2/09/09
Chris Brown Investigated for Domestic Assault; He and Rihanna ...
Rihanna  and Chris Brown
Los ANGELES – The only Grammy Awards anxiety Chris Brown was supposed to feel was over whether he'd win one. Instead, the R&B singer remains mired in suspicion over an allegation of domestic violence.

Following Brown's arrest late Sunday night on suspicion of making a criminal threat and subsequent release, plenty of questions remained: Was there a physical attack, and if so, against whom was it committed?

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Bridget Pickett said authorities continued to investigate what took place early Sunday in the ritzy Han Park neighborhood shortly after Brown and longtime girlfriend, pop superstar Rihanna, were seen happily sitting together at the annual pre-Grammy party hosted by Clive Davis.

Officers received a 911 call about an incident in which a woman accused Brown of hurting her. Authorities have not identified who that woman was, citing confidentiality for victims of domestic abuse.

The 19-year-old Brown, who had left the scene before authorities arrived, turned himself in to police while the Grammy Awards were going on Sunday without him — and also without Rihanna, who, like Brown, canceled her scheduled appearance.

Brown was released after posting $50,000 bail. Pickett described the singer as "professional" during processing.

Rihanna's publicist declined to say why the singer did not appear, saying only that she was "well" and expressing thanks for the concern. Brown's representatives also refused to discuss the allegations or his arrest.

A phone message left with Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, was not immediately returned Sunday night.

News of the incident broke as stars were showing up the Grammys. Police said in an initial news release, sent 90 minutes before the show began, that the woman accusing Brown showed visible injuries.

Still, Brown was not booked on suspicion of physically hurting the woman. Pickett said a criminal threats charge indicates a person makes a threat and has the capacity to carry it out.

"There may be domestic violence charges added later, but that will be up to the district attorney's office," Pickett said.

Less than an hour after the ceremony ended, Brown left a police substation with his attorney as numerous photographers tried to get a shot of him on the way out.

Pickett said Brown did not appear to have any physical injuries. She said she did not know who placed the 911 call and a police spokeswoman said the department would not release the tape.

Brown did not win in either category for which he was nominated: pop collaboration with vocals for "No Air" and male R&B vocal performance for "Take You Down."

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

Entry #117

Obama Poster Artist Shepard Fairey is Arrested

Shepard Fairey

Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times

Fairey stands between two of his works hanging inside his Los Angeles studio.The Los Angeles graphic designer hasn't gone entirely mainstream.

By Martha Groves
February 8, 2009
The red, white and blue "Hope" posters bearing the image of presidential candidate Barack Obama brought worldwide fame to the Los Angeles street artist who created them and arguably helped their subject win the White House.
           

           A poster of President Barack Obama,...

 

Fairey was arrested Friday night in Boston on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art to DJ at a sold-out party kicking off his first solo exhibition, “Supply and Demand.” Two arrest warrants had been issued Jan. 24 after police determined that he had tagged property in two locations with his street art campaign featuring Andre the Giant and the word "obey," said Boston police officer James Kenneally.

Fairey, a commercial artist and graphic designer, is to be arraigned Monday, said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney.

The art institute told the Associated Press that Fairey was released a few hours after his arrest.

The AP also received an e-mail from Fairey's attorney Jeffrey Wiesner. "Shepard Fairey was completely unaware that there were any warrants for his arrest. Had he known, he would have resolved all such issues before the opening of his art exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston," Wiesner said.

Fairey's Obama image has been sold on hundreds of thousands of stickers and posters and was unveiled last month
at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington before Obama's inauguration. But the artist is embroiled in a dispute with the Associated Press over whether he illegally used a copyrighted AP photo to produce his Obama poster.

Fairey had spent the last two weeks in Boston installing his solo exhibition at the institute, giving sold-out public talks, being honored by the Rhode Island School of Design (his alma mater), and creating and unveiling outdoor artworks. Those included a 20-by-50-foot banner called "Peace Goddess" on the north side of City Hall and two murals on the Tufts University campus.

The Boston Globe reported that Fairey previously told the paper he had been arrested at least 14 times. On Friday, more than 750 people were awaiting his appearance at the art institute when he was apprehended.

"The street thing is an outlet for me,"
Fairey told the Los Angeles Times in 2007. "It's the freedom of it that's really exciting."

Yet he added, "I don't have this obsessive need to do street art all the time because it's already opened doors for me. I'm now able to do things that won't be cleaned in a day, that won't get me arrested."

The Institute of Contemporary Art said in a statement Saturday that "we believe Shepard Fairey has made an important contribution in the history of art and to popular thinking about art and its role in society."

Its show, which opened Saturday, is a 20-year survey of his art. His influences include such artists as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.

Institute spokeswoman Donna Desrochers said attendance was high on opening day, "but we expected enthusiasm for the exhibition before the police arrested the artist, so we can't say what impact it has had."

Entry #116

Radio Station Fined For Fake $1,000,000 Prize

Friday, February 6, 2009

(02-06) 06:56 PST Pittsburgh (AP) --

The Federal Communications Commission has fined the CBS radio affiliate in Pittsburgh $6,000 for a talk show prank promising $1 million to a caller.

The FCC says KDKA host Marty Griffin told listeners the money was in a briefcase handcuffed to someone in the studio.

The money was promised to the 13th caller on Thanksgiving 2007. That listener called in and stayed on hold for 45 minutes thinking he had won the money.

CBS argued the offer was "preposterous" and clearly a joke. But FCC investigations chief Hillary DeNigro said Thursday that Griffin misled listeners by calling the contest "the real deal."

KDKA has 30 days to pay the fine or appeal. Michael Young, the station's senior vice president and general manager, had no comment.

___

Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Entry #115

Car Burglar Leaves Behinds Sledgehammer With His Name On It

SAN BRUNO (BCN)

Feb 6, 2009 11:29 am US/Pacific

CBS Crimewatch

                                                               

       An officer in South San Francisco made quick work tracking down a SanBruno burglar Thursday, after he left a sledgehammer with his name on it in a vehicle he broke into, according to police.

Police Sgt. Mindy Lopez responded to 670 Gateway Blvd. at about 1:30 p.m. to investigate two vehicle burglaries that occurred overnight, according to the South San Francisco Police Department.

Construction worker Jerry O'Grady, 46, was identified as a suspect when Lopez located a sledgehammer in one of the burglarized vehicles with the name "Jerry O'Grady" written on it, according to police.

A review of the suspect's criminal record showed O'Grady was on active probation with San Mateo County law enforcement, allowing Lopez to conduct a probation search at his home, police reported. Stolen property from the burglarized vehicles was allegedly located throughout the residence.

O'Grady was arrested for burglary and possession of stolen property and booked at San Mateo County Jail, according to police.
Entry #114

Principal Forces 6 Year Old To Unclog Toilet With Bare Hands

Fri Feb 6, 8:42 pm ET

EAGAN, Minn. – An elementary school principal could be disciplined for allegedly forcing a 6-year-old boy to unclog a toilet with his bare hands. The principal of Rahn Elementary has been on paid leave since mid-December while the school district investigated a complaint from the boy's parents. The school board proposed disciplinary action on Thursday. The nature of the discipline wasn't made public.

The boy's parents claim their son told them the principal made him clean out a toilet bowl that the boy had accidentally clogged on Dec. 12. The boy told his parents he wiped himself with paper towels, instead of toilet paper, causing the clog.

The principal declined to respond to the claims Thursday. He also didn't say what disciplinary action was proposed and whether he'd appeal.

___

Information from: Star Tribune

Entry #113

Bank Robber Hits 2 Cars During Getaway Offers Part of Loot

Friday, February 6, 2009

 

(02-06) 10:20 PST Stockton, CA (AP) --

A suspected bank robber is behind bars after a woman whose car he hit during the getaway declined a share of the booty to keep quiet.

Stockton police identified the alleged robber as 46-year-old Jerry Han.

According to investigators, Han walked into a branch of Bank of the West at noon Thursday and handed an employee a note demanding money.

Investigators say Han fled with the cash, but a few minutes later collided with another car. The driver told police that Han explained he had just robbed a bank and offered her a share of the take to keep quiet.

The woman called police. Han was arrested on suspicion of robbery.


Information from: The Record

Entry #112

Woman Who Gave Birth to 8 Babies Finally Speaks

JOHN ROGERS

Associated Press Writer

Thu Feb 5, 10:24 pm ET

Nadya Suleman, left, speaking with
Ann Curry in New York on Thursday, …

WHITTIER, Calif. – The veil of secrecy octuplets' mother Nadya Suleman shrouded herself in for more than a week was lifted Thursday with the release of public documents showing that the 33-year-old struggled with depression for years until she finally began to realize her childhood dream of having a huge family.

Suleman, who now has 14 children, told doctors she battled with depression for years after she was injured in a riot in 1999 at the state mental hospital where she worked.

The doctors' reports were included in more than 300 pages of documents released to The Associated Press by the state Division of Workers' Compensation on the same day NBC released excerpts of Suleman's first interview since giving birth last month. Among other things, the documents reveal that Suleman collected more than $165,000 in disability payments between 2002 and 2008 for an injury she said left her in near-constant pain and helped end her marriage.

Meanwhile, Suleman told NBC what her mother and others have said since the octuplets were born: that she always wanted a huge family to make up for the isolation she felt as an only child.

"That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge family," she said. "I just longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that ... I really lacked, I believe, growing up."

In the interview — scheduled to air on the "Today" show Monday and again Tuesday on "Dateline" — Suleman calls her childhood "pretty dysfunctional."

In the state report, however, doctors indicate she had a happy childhood. She told them she was an above-average high school student, enjoyed being a cheerleader, had many friends and stayed out of trouble. She said her parents were loving and supportive.

As an adult, however, she said she often battled depression as she struggled to get pregnant and particularly after her injury.

In the report, Suleman told a doctor she had three miscarriages. Another doctor disputed that number, saying she had two ectopic pregnancies, a dangerous condition in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than in the uterus. She told NBC she struggled for seven years before finally giving birth to her first child in 2001 through in vitro fertilization.

She told a doctor who conducted a psychological evaluation for a workers' compensation claim that the first birth was "the most wonderful, best thing that's ever happened in my life."

Suleman said all her children have been born through in vitro fertilization, with sperm donated from a friend. The first six range in age from 2 to 7. The octuplets are doing fine, said officials at Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower Medical Center, where they were born Jan. 26.

According to the state documents, which were released to the AP following a public records request, Suleman was injured Sept. 18, 1999, when a riot involving nearly two dozen patients broke out in the women's ward of the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

As she was helping other staffers restrain a patient, a desk thrown at her by another patient hit her in the back. It caused damage to her spine and left her complaining of headaches and intense pain throughout her lower body for years.

She attributed it in part to the breakup of her marriage to Marcos Gutierrez, whom she had wed in 1996. She told a psychiatrist the bouts of depression she was suffering as a result of her injury were unfair to her husband.

"I don't want to keep bringing him down. I want him to move on with his life," she told a psychiatrist.

The couple split in 2000 and divorced last year. Gutierrez has not returned calls to phone numbers listed for him, and his divorce lawyer, Roberto Gil, declined comment.

Suleman has come under criticism from TV and radio commentators, bloggers and others who accused her of irresponsibly having more children than she appears prepared to care for. Some say she had the octuplets to cash in with a TV or book deal.

Although the two publicists she hired last week acknowledge she is reviewing such offers, one of her friends said Suleman simply loves children and didn't get pregnant for profit.

"She's not even interested in that right now," said Jessica Zepeda, who lives down the street. "It's funny and sad in a way, there's a lot of people saying really negative things and they don't know her."

Suleman's mother said she expects people's opinions to change now that her daughter is going public.

"She's a very likable person," Angela Suleman said Wednesday. "She's basically normal except for this obsession she's always had with children."

She's also a good mother, Angela Suleman said.

Her daughter, who was born in Fullerton, studied to be a psychiatric technician after graduating from a high school in La Puente in 1993.

She received a bachelor's degree in child and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton, in 2006 and was studying there for a master's degree in counseling when she became pregnant with the octuplets.

"She may not be able to finish her master's degree now and she was so close to wrapping it up," her mother said.

Publicist Mike Furtney said Nadya Suleman has told him it's her dream to eventually earn a Ph.D. in some field involving counseling.

Public records show Suleman was listed on the Metropolitan State Hospital payroll from 1997 until last year, though it appears she did little work after September 1999 because of her injury.

Furtney said Thursday that Suleman was "feeling great" and looking forward to being reunited with her octuplets, who are expected to remain in the hospital for several more weeks.

"She's happy to be out of the hospital, although she misses her children," he said. "She can't wait until they join her."

The octuplets were born nine weeks prematurely and will be released from the hospital individually as they hit a near-normal newborn weight.

"At this point in their development, they are not mature enough to coordinate the suckling and swallowing at the same time to be bottle-fed," said Dr. Mandhir Gupta, the hospital's neonatologist.

___

Associated Press writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Raquel Maria Dillon and Thomas Watkins contributed to this report.

Entry #111

Corpse Hidden In Bathroom for 2 Months by Religious Leader

02-05) 13:35 PST Mauston, Wis. (AP) --

A religious leader pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he stashed a rotting corpse for two months in a follower's bathroom. Alan Bushey was charged last year with hiding a corpse, causing mental harm to a child and theft. Investigators said the body of a 90-year-old member of his religious group was concealed at another group member's home in a scheme to collect the dead woman's Social Security checks.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth agreed to drop the mental harm and theft counts in exchange for Bushey's plea, according to online court records.

Bushey, 58, of Necedah, faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for May 5.

His attorney, Thomas Steinman, didn't immediately return a telephone message left at his office Thursday. Southworth's office declined to comment.

Prosecutors accused Bushey and follower Tammy Lewis of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth's body on a toilet in Lewis' home after she died there in March.

A criminal complaint said Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth's family expressed concern.

Lewis pleaded no contest in November to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350.

Entry #110

99-Year-Old Man on Trial for Swindling $109,000

Wed Feb 4, 10:05 am ET

A shop assistant checks hundred yuan bank notes at a shop in Xiangfan, central Reuters – A shop assistant checks hundred yuan bank notes at a shop in Xiangfan, central China's Hubei province, …

BEIJING (Reuters) – A 99-year-old Chinese man has gone on trial in Beijing accused of swindling some 750,000 yuan ($109,700) from an American, the oldest criminal defendant ever in the city, domestic media said Wednesday.

Zhou Zhiping, born in 1910, claimed to be a former provincial governor during the Nationalists' rule of China, which ended when the Communists took power in 1949, the Beijing News said.

Zhou said he had close connections with government leaders and could help with the unfreezing of assets of the former Nationalists held in the United States, the report said, without elaborating.

Due to his age, Zhou was released on bail. The prosecutor also did his questioning at Zhou's house rather than the court, the newspaper added.

The elderly defendant, who has poor hearing, denied all the accusations in court. He could be jailed for at least 10 years or even for life if found guilty, the report said.

($1=6.839 Yuan)

(Reporting by Liu Zhen, editing by Ben Blanchard and Sanjeev Miglani)

 

Entry #109

Indian Man Jailed for Taking 50 cents 24 Years Ago

Wed Feb 4, 4:57 am ET

PATNA, India (Reuters) – An Indian court sentenced a 75-year-old doctor to jail for accepting half a dollar (35 pence) as bribe nearly a quarter of a century ago, officials said on Wednesday.

India's federal police caught Balgovind Prasad accepting 25 rupees (51 cents) from a sweeper in 1985 for issuing a fake medical certificate, police said.

The case dragged on for years and Prasad was convicted in 1992 and given a one-year jail term. He was freed as he appealed the sentence.

On Tuesday, a higher court in India's eastern state of Bihar state reduced the one-year term to three months, saying the bribe amount was too small, but directed the police to take Prasad into custody as he was guilty of the crime.

"The case was also dragging and the bribe money was too small, so Prasad thought he would get a reprieve from the court," prosecution lawyer Vipin Kumar Sinha told reporters after the verdict. "But all the charges has been proved against him."

Indian justice is often delivered at a glacial pace and a case can drag for decades with endless hearings.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Sugita Katyal)

 

Entry #108