"Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, has taken it upon herself and the state government to do what the feds should have been doing all along," she said. "Yes, other states should do what Arizona is doing."

Several states, including Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Maryland and Colorado, are already considering tougher illegal immigration laws in the wake of Arizona's efforts. However, fellow Mexico border states New Mexico, California and Texas have been less willing to adopt similar policies.

Each of those states fear alienating their Hispanic communities, which are deeply ingrained in the state cultures, and in the case of New Mexico, is much larger than in Arizona.

Although it doesn't take effect until July 29, the controversial immigration law passed recently by Arizona has deeply divided the nation, with politicians and activists speaking out in droves to either slam, or support, the effort.

Several cities and states have formally boycotted Arizona, arguing that the law - which strictly states race cannot be used as a factor for questioning a suspected illegal immigrant - would still lead to racial profiling.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/05/20/2010-05-20_sarah_palin_every_state_should_have_immigration_law_like_arizona.html#ixzz0oWkbpHQH

4 Comments

Entry #2,332

May 20, 2010
7:47 pm

Carjacker leaves his wallet in victim's car

Carjacking suspect leaves evidence in victim's car

May 20th, 2010 @ 11:21am

KSL TV5

Carjacking began near 900 South and State Street.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A carjacking suspect provided a trail for police to follow when he left identification in his victim's car.

Salt Lake City police say the carjacker approached a man at a gas station near 900 South and State Street around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, showed a gun and demanded a ride.

The man drove the carjacker around until he spotted a police officer and pulled over. That's when the carjacker took off.

"The suspect, when he jumped out, he actually left his wallet in the victim's car," said Lt. James Tracy with the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Hours later, a Midvale police officer stopped a pickup truck after spotting a man in the back seat who wasn't wearing a seat belt. That man's name matched the ID in the wallet -- John Rhodes.

Police say Rhodes also was wanted on a $150,000 warrant for aggravated burglary. Officers booked him in to the Salt Lake County Jail.

LINK TO VIDEO AND PHOTO:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10845030&autostart=y

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Entry #2,331

May 20, 2010
6:33 pm

Family has funeral for daughter who was found alive in...

Woman thought to be dead found alive in Croatia

Associated Press

Summary

A month ago, a mother and father identified a body in a morgue as their daughter's. A funeral was held and the family mourned its loss. But it turned out that 39-year-old Tea Buric was still alive.

May 20, 2010 at 9:40 AM PDT

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - A month ago, a mother and father identified a body in a morgue as their daughter's. A funeral was held and the family mourned its loss.

But it turned out that 39-year-old Tea Buric was still alive. This week police found her when they showed up at an apartment in the southern city of Split to investigate a report of domestic violence.

Buric was disoriented and lacked identification, so police checked her fingerprints and discovered she had been identified by her family as dead.

The body found floating in the Split harbor on April 15 turned out to be that of a 44-year-old woman who had disappeared earlier that month, Split police said.

Police spokeswoman Marina Kraljevic-Gudelj said in an interview on Thursday that police didn't use DNA to identify the well-preserved corpse because four relatives, including the parents, had identified it.

Local experts also said the DNA procedure, considered expensive in Croatia, is generally only used if a corpse cannot be identified or appears to have been the victim of a crime.

The parents of Buric and the 44-year-old deceased woman declined to discuss the case.

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Entry #2,330

May 20, 2010
5:43 pm

Second grader questions Michelle Obama about immigration

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-sharry/first-lady-michelle-obama_b_582168.html

1 Comment

Entry #2,329

May 20, 2010
4:31 pm

School converted to strip club

Neighbors upset downstate school has been converted to strip club

Topless dancers perform in former cafeteria; old teachers lounge now a VIP room

School House Gentleman's Club

This former school cafeteria in Neoga Township, Ill. is now known as The School House Gentleman's Club, a venue which features topless dancers. (Photo for the Tribune by Steve Warmowski / May 15, 2010)

Steve Schmadeke

Tribune reporter

May 20, 201

Nancy Ward isn't happy about what's become of Pioneer School, which served fore than 50 years as both a place of learning and a community center where people gathered to sing hymns, attend 4-H meetings and sell homemade pies.

About six months ago, the vacant elementary school bordered by homes on a rural highway was converted into a strip club called The School House. Downstate residents are still fuming.

"It's a whorehouse," said Ward, co-owner of a nearby garden center where she and her husband live. "I honestly don't feel as safe here as what I did. And the name they gave it — that is unbelievable. There's nobody in there learning anything, I guarantee you."

The school about 60 miles south of Champaign was sold by the Neoga school district in 2002 for $36,800. Now, three nights a week, as many as 10 topless dancers perform in the former cafeteria on a small stage with a mirrored backdrop set that includes two stripper poles under black lights.

The teachers lounge has been converted into a VIP room where lap dances go for $20, an ATM installed outside. The walls are hung with multiplication tables, chalkboard, a history of U.S. presidents and a poster titled "Class Rules" that reads "Keep hands off dancers." One entrance has been fenced off for a smoking area, and a sign near the back door reads "No Hard Liquor."

"Myself, I wished it was gone and the hell out of here," said Frank Enloe, 74, a former sheriff's deputy who has lived about 300 feet north of the school since 1965. Now he doesn't feel comfortable hosting late-night cookouts on his patio and wakes each night as the club lets out around 2 a.m. "It bothers us — we put all five of our children through here."

"It just makes us sick," said Marian Lindley, a former teacher at the school.

But to Bob Kearney, a union electrician who runs the club with business partner Travis Funneman, The School House is a legal business that has been a small bright spot for the county's economy.

It doesn't serve alcohol and has never been cited by authorities, and only one person has been arrested there — for damaging club property. For those seeking such entertainment, the other nearest venues are more than an hour away.

"This building was falling apart — we totally renovated it," said Kearney, who has a one-year lease on the former school. "Nobody cared about this building until we moved in. You show me another business in Cumberland County that has created 30 jobs for people.

"It's no longer an argument of legality; now it's an argument of morality," he said as a stripper crawled across the stage. "Is this Nazi Germany? Are they the Taliban? It's OK to break the laws as long as it's in the views of my religion?"

There were no adult-business regulations in Cumberland County before the club opened, and it remains the only such business in the county. To obtain what amounts to a business license, the owners in September wrote their names, addresses and business name in an old leather-bound county book and ran a newspaper ad for three weeks.

They were not required to say what type of business they had planned.

As talk of what was going on in the schoolhouse spread, the county in December prohibited adult businesses from opening within 1,000 feet of homes, schools or parks. It also banned completely nude performances.

But the owners say the law doesn't apply to existing businesses, and at least for now, county authorities apparently agree.

Still, the County Board has commissioned a study to determine if the new ordinance would illegally ban any strip club from the county, a first step in possible legal action.

"This is a very small county, and the people just don't want it," said County Board Chairman Robert Swearingen. "They don't want this in their neighborhood, and I can't really say I blame them."

Strip clubs are afforded protection under the First Amendment, and officials realize they could potentially be walking into a legal minefield by attempting to force The School House to close.

"You can't make it a witch hunt," said Cumberland County State's Attorney Barry Schaefer. "You can regulate adult businesses, but if you can't regulate it the right way, it won't hold water in court."

Residents here have happily lived alongside other sometimes-noisy organizations, such as the Central Illinois Motorcycle Club and the bar that opened in an old church up the road.

But even if it's legal, many residents remain fiercely opposed to a strip club, run by out-of-towners, in what many still consider their school in the heart of their crossroads community.

A small number of protesters still gather each night across the street, light a bonfire and post a sign that says, "Does your family know where you are? Jesus does."

A Neoga church's bulletin includes a prayer request each month for "changed hearts at the Old Pioneer School."

Protester Nadine Kastl, 81, a retired school bus driver for Pioneer School, recalled how at a recent basketball game an opposing team's fans waved dollar bills at the Neoga cheerleaders, apparently in reference to the new strip club.

"I can't believe that happened to our kids," she said.

Dancers interviewed at the club said they viewed the old schoolhouse as just another workplace, though the protesters were something new.

Residents are encouraged by what many say has been a drop in business at The School House since it opened, and they are hopeful it quietly will go away. Kearney, though, still has big plans.

"The classrooms — eventually we would like to make them theme rooms and do bachelor parties and private parties," he said. "But that can wait. They didn't build the Taj Mahal overnight."

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Entry #2,328

May 20, 2010
3:27 pm

School FINES Students For Cursing

School FINES Students For Cursing

Huffington Post

Leah Finnegan

First Posted: 05-19-10 08:54 AM | Updated: 05-19-10 08:55 AM

A Mississippi community college is cracking down on cursing -- by charging students money when they utter an off-color word.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

At Hinds Community College, swearing can get you in trouble. "Public profanity, cursing and vulgarity" are all punishable with a $25 fine for a first offense, and a $50 fine for a second offense. Further, the offense of "flagrant disrespect" (which may be demonstrated by swearing, as became clear Tuesday when a controversy over the code went public) can earn a student demerits that could lead to suspension.

Hinds appears to be relatively rare among public colleges in regulating speech in this way. And the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has taken up the case of a student who faced charges following an incident in which -- after class, but in the presence of an instructor -- he said that a grade he had just received was "going to up my entire G.P.A." The instructor first threatened to place the student in detention and when the student pointed out (correctly) that the college doesn't have detention, the "flagrant disrespect" charges were made.

Many say the policy is a flagrant abuse of the First Amendment, but some academics agree that curbing sometimes out-of-control profanity on campus can be difficult, especially as more students feel entitled to be rude.

Associate General Counsel of St. Mary's College and Association for Student Conduct Administration President W. Scott Lewis recommends schools take a more holistic approach to campus civility. "You need to talk about rights and responsibilities," he told Inside Higher Ed.

What do you think?

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Entry #2,327

May 20, 2010
10:14 am

First-Grader Suspended Over Yearbook Comment

Sacramento Area Local News

May 18, 2010 4:37 pm US/Pacific

First-Grader Suspended Over Yearbook Comment

Reporting
David Begnaud

YUBA CITY (CBS13)

A first-grader from Yuba City has been suspended from school for a day after scratching out a picture and writing a comment in her own yearbook, and school officials said they are sticking by their decision.

Natalie Day, 7, spent Tuesday home from school after she was suspended for "disruption" -- scratching the picture of a classmate out of her yearbook at writing "because she is rude" next to the classmate's name, according to the suspension form given to her mother.

"She's been a bully to me all year," Natalie said. "I can't do anything for it."

Crystal Ledger, Natalie's mother, said her daughter has been bullied by the classmate all year, but admits that Natalie had once told the girl she would beat her up. Crystal said she even asked for her daughter to be moved to another class.

"To me this whole thing is a little silly," Crystal said. "I told her she did nothing wrong. This is her yearbook. I bought it for her, if she chooses to cut out, like, stick people, that's fine. This is her property."

Yuba City Unified School District superintendent Nancy Aaberg said there are other elements to the situation she cannot release due to privacy rules.

Aaberg said other "relevant information" may not have been on the suspension form but may have been verbally told to Natalie's parents, something Crystal denied.

"I don't want to make too much drama out of it but we have to agree that there's more to the story that I'm not able to share," Aaberg said.

There is no reason not to stand by the principal's decision, Aaberg added. The principal who suspended Natalie declined a request for interview from CBS13.

The classmate in question has also been suspended from school.

Crystal said Natalie will return to school Wednesday.

Comments

Entry #2,326

May 20, 2010
9:58 am

2 Women Caught Smuggling Meth in Bible To Jailed Man

2 women booked in smuggling try

LIVINGSTON PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE

From left: Harvey LeBlanc, Melissa A. Lennox and Nikki C. Rushing.

Advocate Florida

May 19, 2010

LIVINGSTON — Two women were arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine inside a Bible to a Walker man jailed in the Livingston Parish Detention Center, deputies said.

Using a false name, Melissa A. Lennox, 28, 420 Carrie Drive, Apt. 103, Walker, allegedly delivered a Bible containing methamphetamine to the detention center on May 12, according to a Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office news release.

Nikki C. Rushing, 35, 30055 Corby Circle, Denham Springs, allegedly gave the drug-containing Bible to Lennox, deputies said.

The intended recipient, Harvey LeBlanc Jr., 30, 36720 N. Corbin Road, Walker, has been in jail since October on a variety of drug-related arrests, including the creation of a meth lab, deputies said.

One of those cases dates back to April 2009, when deputies arrested LeBlanc on a count of possessing meth and marijuana while at the jailhouse attempting to post bond to get his girlfriend out, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Following the May 12 arrests, Lennox was booked with entering contraband into a penal institution, and Rushing was booked with being a principal to entering contraband into a penal institution, deputies said.

LeBlanc was booked on counts of attempting to enter contraband into a penal institution and possession of methamphetamine, deputies said.

Lennox, Rushing and LeBlanc remained in custody Tuesday at the detention center, deputies said.

1 Comment

Entry #2,325

May 20, 2010
6:54 am

Teacher viciously beats up student

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20004788-504083.html

2 Comments

Entry #2,324

May 19, 2010
10:10 pm

Teacher uses assassination of President Obama to teach angles

Jefferson County geometry teacher uses wrong example to teach angles --- assassination of President Barack Obama

May 18, 2010, 6:30AM

Carol Robinson --- Marie Leech

The Birmingham News

UPDATE: Geometry teacher who used Obama assassination as example placed on leave

A Jefferson County teacher picked the wrong example when he used assassinating President Barack Obama as a way to teach angles to his geometry students.

Someone alerted authorities and the Corner High School math teacher was questioned by the Secret Service, but was not taken into custody or charged with any crime.

"We did not find a credible threat," said Roy Sexton, special agent in charge of Birmingham's Secret Service office. "As far as the Secret Service is concerned, we looked into it, we talked to the gentleman and we have closed our investigation."

A Corner High geometry teacher picked the wrong example, President Barack Obama, to use in a lesson on angles. The lesson resulted in a Secret Service investigation. (AP) Sexton said he generally doesn't discuss threat cases, but confirmed his office investigated the incident. No federal charges followed the probe.

The teacher was apparently teaching his geometry students about parallel lines and angles, officials said. He used the example of where to stand and aim if shooting Obama.

"He was talking about angles and said, 'If you're in this building, you would need to take this angle to shoot the president,' " said Joseph Brown, a senior in the geometry class.

Efforts to reach the teacher for comment Monday were unsuccessful. Superintendent Phil Hammonds said the teacher remains at work, and there are no plans for termination.

"We are going to have a long conversation with him about what's appropriate," Hammonds said. "It was extremely poor judgment on his part, and a poor choice of words."

Caroline Polk, the parent of a ninth-grader at the school, said she doesn't believe the teacher ought to be fired.

"We all make mistakes, and we should be able to learn from our mistakes," she said. "What he said was just wrong and inappropriate. Everyone's got their own opinions, but we have to be aware of our surroundings. At this point, it just needs to be handled in a way that it won't be repeated."

5 Comments

Entry #2,323

May 19, 2010
9:46 pm

Man trades baby for beer

Cops: Man tries to trade baby for beer

Matthew Brace, 24, charged with child endangerment

Updated: Tuesday, 18 May 2010, 1:46 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 18 May 2010, 7:54 AM EDT

Jennifer Colby and Laura Hutchinson

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - A father was allegedly caught trying to trade his infant baby for beer at a Chicopee gas station on Monday.

The incident occurred at the Pride Station on Burnett Road in Chicopee around 1 p.m. Monday.

Chicopee Police Sgt. Christopher Lareau told 22News that 24-year-old Matthew Brace of Northampton allegedly offered his 3-month-old daughter to a maintenance man working outside in exchange for two 40-ounce beers.

The infant's mother, 31-year-old Wendy Arsenault, was inside the Pride store at the time.

Brace allegedly put the baby and a stroller in the worker's truck and said: "For two 40s, you can have her." The worker then called police.

Officers later found the couple at the nearby Econo Lodge, where the had been living on public assistance.

Chicopee Police Chief John Ferraro Jr. told 22News he is unsure if Brace was trying to exchange the baby for beers or for crack cocaine.

Brace was not arrested, but he was summoned to court on charges of reckless endangerment of a child. Sgt. Lareau said Arsenault was not involved in the crime.

22News spoke with Arsenault over the phone Tuesday morning. She said she had no idea what was going on because she was inside the store and that she would never put her baby in harm's way.

The infant girl is now in the state's custody.

Brace was scheduled to be arraigned in Chicopee District Court on Tuesday, but his court appearance has been postponed because he is in the hospital. Police refused to comment on why Brace was hospitalized.

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.wane.com/dpps/news/strange/cops-say-man-tries-to-trade-baby-for-beer-jgr_3365212

1 Comment

Entry #2,322

May 19, 2010
9:33 pm

Workers asked to return bonuses after 16 years

Gwinnett County News

4:26 p.m.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

County dipping into employees' pockets for 16-year-old debt

Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's time to settle up.

About 180 Gwinnett County employees are being notified they were overpaid 16 years ago and it's time to make good on the advance. As part of its rejuvenated effort to go after every penny it's owed, the county is seeking to collect $39,690.46 from employees who received the bonus in their paychecks in 1994.

"Yes, the county has initiated a project to clean-up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations wherever possible," said Aaron Bovos, Gwinnett County chief financial officer.

The initiative is part of an on-going effort to better manage assets and resources, Bovos said. One of those projects includes collecting outstanding advances made to employees.

The payroll anomaly dates back to Sept. 30, 1994, when the county adjusted employee pay cycles. The adjustment resulted in shortening one pay period from a 14 days to 12 days. Under normal circumstances, employees who worked the shortened pay cycle would have received less pay, but to avoid financial hardship, paychecks were increased to counteract any shortfall.

In all, Gwinnett County overpaid 509 people a total of $114,876.55 that week.

Since then, the county has collected the overpayment from employee paychecks at retirement. So far, it has recovered $75,186.09 from 329 employees.

Bovos said this measure will allow the county to clear an account it has been carrying for 16 years.

Current employees who received the overpayment have several options to pay back the advance. They can apply it toward vacation leave or a floating holiday, or they can make a cash payment.

Gwinnett County is in the middle of other initiatives to clear its books. Staff is reviewing contracts with state and federal agencies for reimbursements relating to transportation projects or grants.

Timely submission of invoices and subsequent reimbursement to the county improves cash flows, Bovos said.

Comments

Entry #2,321

May 19, 2010
8:40 pm

Dems say election results could have been worse

Anti-incumbent mood shown, but Dems say it could have been worse

Alexander Bolton

The Hill

05/19/10

07:50 PM ET

Tuesday’s primaries in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania confirmed what lawmakers feared: The incumbency advantage at the ballot box doesn’t necessarily apply this year.

But Democrats, who came away with a critical win in a special election, said they were heartened by the fact that voter disenchantment cuts both ways.

“People are upset, and it shows no party bounds,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), architect of the Democratic takeover of the Senate in 2006 and the 60-seat majority of 2009.

Rand Paul, the Tea Party-backed insurgent who won the Senate Republican primary in Kentucky, demonstrated that the GOP establishment is just as vulnerable to voter anger.

And Democrat Mark Critz’s special-election victory over Republican Tim Burns in Pennsylvania’s 12th district provided a valuable lesson, Democrats said.

“For Democrats, the lesson is very simple: I think it is that people want us to focus on their problems,” Schumer told The Hill. “I don’t believe they want no government; I think they want a government that is lean but focuses on what is bothering them and helps fix it.”

Republicans countered that voters were expressing displeasure with Democrats’ massive spending spree since taking control of the White House.

“We got a fired-up country, fired up about taxes, spending, debt and Washington takeovers,” said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.). “It’s a message, above all other things, to get the debt under control.”

Democrats touted their relatively high turnout in all three states in an attempt to dispel the notion that the party base isn’t fired up. But in Pennsylvania, some say there’s a caveat: It is likely Critz benefited from the intense interest in the primary race between Sen. Arlen Specter (D) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D).

Critz stated his opposition to healthcare reform and cap-and-trade legislation and campaigned extensively on a jobs message. While Democrats enjoy a 2-to-1 registration advantage in the district, it was the only one in the country that voted for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for president in 2004 and backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the White House in 2008.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) acknowledged the loss was a setback and said the party needs to raise more money and get organized before November.

“It’s pretty clear that we have to organize and we’ve got to continue working on our agenda project. ... We’ve got to continue to raise resources,” Boehner told reporters.

It was the seventh special election Republicans have lost since President Barack Obama took office.

Republicans had tried to make the race about Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who are unpopular in the district, but Critz, a former Murtha staffer, won with a comfortable margin, 53 percent to 45.

Boehner said his party has had a tough time winning these special elections given “the financial disadvantage we have now,” noting that “we’ve got to do better.”

Alexander called the special election in Pennsylvania a “disappointment.” “We’ll have to learn from that,” he said.

Still, Democrats could hardly celebrate outright.

The primary defeat of 30-year incumbent Specter and the failure of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the Arkansas primary — forcing her into a June 8 runoff — shows that voters won’t blindly pull the lever for incumbents.

“There is an anti-incumbent sense,” said Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), who campaigned with Critz. “That’s natural whenever the economy is stressed like it is — I think you’re going to see that.”

Republicans argue the anti-incumbent sentiment is more damaging to Democrats because they control more seats in Congress.

But Democrats say they have learned an important lesson that will guide them over the next five and a half months.

“I think what most people are telling us, whether we’re an incumbent or an incumbent who happens to be running, is that we have to focus intensively on job creation and job preservation,” said Casey.

Democrats pledged a laser-like focus on jobs and the economy after they lost control of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts.

But they have not passed much in the way of jobs legislation. Obama signed a modest $18 billion jobs bill into law in March.

But Democrats have redoubled their efforts to frame a landmark healthcare reform law as an economy-boosting accomplishment and have focused on the job-creating potential of energy and climate change legislation

Schumer said the Democratic jobs message is having “some” impact on voters and “we’ve got to do more of it.”

Molly K. Hooper contributed to this report.

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Entry #2,320