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"He was fine (afterward)," Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said of the cabbie. "He had a small laceration on his left thumb and a small abrasion on his neck."

The 51-year-old cabbie's brush with a man armed with a knife that was at least 10 inches long began when he picked up a man in his 20s outside the Grand Victoria Casino, 250 S. Grove Ave., at about 2 a.m. Thursday.

The man gave the cabbie, who was driving a minivan instead of a sedan, several sets of directions and destinations.

The cabbie got suspicious, so he put a small can of spray deodorant that he kept in the vehicle between his legs, the police report said.

At about 2:20 p.m., at the intersection of Wellington and Bent streets, the man leaned forward in the minivan, put the knife to the cabbie's throat and demanded money.

In response, the cabbie sprayed the man in the face and eyes, disorienting him and causing him to drop his knife, which eventually was left in the cab.

"The doors were locked so he punched the cabdriver a few times" until the cabbie unlocked the doors, Swoboda said.

The attacker ran toward the apartments behind the ClockTower Plaza shopping center. He is described as black, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds.

No arrests have been made as of Thursday afternoon.

House wrecked as man kills weeds with flame thrower

 

AFP/File – Dandelions grow at the

edge of a path. A German gardener's

house was left a smouldering wreck after …

July 3, 2009 

9:35 am

BERLIN (AFP) – A German gardener's house was left a smouldering wreck on Friday after he set it on fire while trying to get rid of the weeds with the help of a flame-thrower, police said.

After accidentally setting his hedge alight, the 54-year-old's garden shed was soon also engulfed in flames and despite efforts to extinguish the fire with a garden hose, the blaze spread to the roof of the house.

Seven firemen were needed to put out the blaze in Tangstedt near Hamburg in northern Germany, which occurred on Thursday. Police said the house was now uninhabitable.

Flame-throwers are used widely in agriculture and also in gardening, but generally only for removing weeds from between cracks in paving in driveways and patios.

 

DVD sent home with Elk Grove elementary students included sexual content

Elk Grove Unified officials have rescinded a request for parents to return DVDs that included "inappropriate images" they say were inadvertently sent home with students at Isabelle Jackson Elementary.

Now, the district doesn't want the DVDs back.

"Just destroy them," said district spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.

A teacher apparently sent the DVD retrospective of class activity home with her 24 students on the last day of school Friday.

Although the district would not say what sort of images the DVD contained, a copy obtained by The Bee from a parent showed six seconds of sexual content.

Johnson said the teacher learned of the mistake when a parent called her over the weekend. The teacher then called all the parents of her students and asked them to destroy the DVD.

The district followed up with a letter to parents in which they initially requested that the DVDs be returned to the school.

Johnson said a district investigation of the incident will consider whether anything criminal took place, among other things.

Though children saw the video, no parents filed a complaint with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, said Sgt. Tim Curran, sheriff's spokesman.

Even if someone were to file a report, Curran said, distributing the DVD "may not be prosecutable" because law enforcement would have to establish the teacher had both intent to distribute the material and intent to arouse in order to have broken the law.

 

RELATED STORY:

 

Calif. students get X-rated version of class DVD

Fri Jul 3, 1:02 am ET

ELK GROVE, Calif. – A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.

Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.

"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.

Johnson said the teacher, whose name isn't being released, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD.

The school district, located just south of Sacramento, initially sent a letter home to parents asking them to return the DVDs, but then asked parents to simply destroy them.

 

VANCOUVER - The search is on for a Vancouver woman living in the city's notoriously impoverished Downtown Eastside who may be the only heir to a small fortune sitting in a German bank.

Toronto lawyer Robert Price was hired by a German bank to help locate a woman named Lucia Leiser, who is the rightful owner of an estate worth an estimated $360,000 Cdn that was bequeathed by a relative of her father. Since her father died about a decade ago, the money now belongs to Leiser.

But the challenge is finding her to let her know.

Price contacted The Vancouver Sun this week after reading a 2007 story in which the newspaper quoted Lucia Leiser-Maika, a resident of the Downtown Eastside hotel Bourbon.

"I believe that Lucia Leiser-Maika may be one and the same person as Lucia Leiser and I would like to be able to contact this woman," Price said in an e-mail to the newspaper.

In an interview, Price said Lucia's father left Germany in 1952, married a woman in Fiji and settled in Vancouver where he raised two children - a son, and a daughter named Lucia.

A Vancouver Sun reporter and photographer spent two days in the Downtown Eastside showing Leiser's picture - taken by the newspaper in 2007 - to residents and service providers.

Many people said they recognized her in the photo. Several said they had not seen Leiser for a year or more, while a few believed they had spotted her in recent days or weeks. A handful thought she was of Polynesian descent.

A shelter worker said Leiser was well known for her attire, often wearing brightly coloured leis around her neck.

Fellow Downtown Eastside resident Yolanda Dyck said she last saw Leiser in 2007, when the two spent a handful of months together in a drum group run through the Aboriginal Front Door. Dyck thought she had a connection to Hawaii or some similar place because she often spoke about how the native Canadian culture was different from her own background.

"She was outgoing," said Dyck, a Crown witness during serial killer Robert (Willie) Pickton's trial. "She had a big heart."

She believes Leiser was living on the street at that time.

In a February 2007 interview about welfare shelter-allowance rates being increased by $50, Leiser said she was being kicked out of the Bourbon Hotel on Vancouver's Cordova Street. She said she had survived her first three years in the Downtown Eastside without social assistance and spent much of her time helping other women at the Aboriginal Front Door and the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre.

She dismissed the $50 welfare increase as a "Band-Aid" that wouldn't heal the larger problems festering in the Downtown Eastside.

"You think $50 is going to help? That's one trick for the women who live down here," Leiser said at the time. "That place where I live is not a home. It's full of mice and bedbugs and the ceiling leaks."

Glen Miller, longtime manager of the Bourbon, said this week his hotel is in good shape and that Leiser was evicted in 2007 after scribbling on the walls and exhibiting other unstable behaviour.

Lucia Leiser-Maika could inherit $360,000 Cdn, but she's believed to be lost in the bowels of Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

Steve Bosch

 

Murray Wardrop

Daily Telegraph
Published: 7:00AM BST 02 Jul 2009

Mr Vujicic also enjoys the occasional round of golf, having mastered striking the ball using a club nestled under his chin. Photo: BARCROFT

The 26-year old is mainly torso but has a small foot on his left hip which helps him balance and enables him to kick.

Mr Vujicic uses his single foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.

He claims that his lack of limbs is something of a benefit in the water because it means he has more flotation and can use his foot as a "propeller".

And during a trip to Hawaii in 2008, he learnt to surf with help from professional surfer Bethany Hamilton, who had her arm bitten off by a shark when she was 12.

His ability to pull off 360 degree spins on his board got him on the front cover of Surfer magazine.

Mr Vujicic also enjoys the occasional round of golf, having mastered striking the ball using a club nestled under his chin.

His disability came at birth without any medical explanation – a rare condition called Phocomelia.

However, he has learnt to use his foot and a wheelchair to overcome every hurdle life has thrown at him.

"I call it my chicken drumstick," joked Nick, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, but now lives in Los Angeles, USA.

"I'd be lost without it. When I get in the water I float because 80 per cent of my body is lungs and my drumstick acts as a propeller."

From a young age his parents helped him become independent, teaching him to swim at the age of 18 months and creating gadgets to allow him to write and type.

Mr Vujicic added: "My dad put me in the water at 18 months and gave the courage to learn how to swim.

"I also got really into football and skateboarding. I totally love the English Premier League."

His parents also insisted that he attend a mainstream school in Australia, where he was teased and bullied.

"It was the best decision they could have made for me," Mr Vujicic added, who later achieved a degree in Financial Planning and Real Estate.

"It was very hard but it gave me independence."

Mr Vujicic is now a motivational speaker and has travelled to over 24 countries speaking to groups of up to 110,000 people.

In 1990 he won the Australian Young Citizen of the Year award for his bravery and perseverance.

Describing his surf tuition with Miss Hamilton, he said: "She was amazing. I was terrified at first, but once I got up there it felt absolutely fantastic and I caught some waves pretty well."

"I have a very low centre of gravity so I've got pretty good balance."

Man heads to jail after 15th DWI

By PEGGY WRIGHT 

Daily Record

STAFF WRITER 

July 1, 2009 

An East Rutherford man whose driver's license has been suspended 78 times admitted Tuesday to his 15th drunken-driving offense, saying he was plastered on beer in April when he crashed head-on in Morris Township into a vehicle carrying a father and his young daughter.

Shaun P. Campbell, a 40-year-old carpenter, pleaded guilty in state Superior Court, Morristown, to one count of assault by auto on April 23 and to the motor vehicle offenses of drunken driving and driving while on the revoked list. That day, he crashed the SUV he was driving into a Ford pickup driven by Harold A. Bivins Jr., 48, of Chatham Township. His 4-year-old daughter, Hannah Bivins, was a passenger.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Brian DiGiacomo has recommended that Campbell receive the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for the assault by auto, and consecutive 180-day terms on the drunken-driving and revoked license charges. He also recommended to Judge Salem Vincent Ahto that Campbell receive an extra 90-day term as an enhanced penalty on the license revocation offense.

Campbell, who politely answered questions posed by the judge and defense lawyer John Paul Velez, acknowledged his blood-alcohol level on April 23 was .288 percent, or more than triple the .08 percent level at which a driver is deemed intoxicated in New Jersey. Ahto asked Campbell what he drank.

"Beer. Quite a bit. Enough to not know what was going on," Campbell replied.

Though his lack of a valid license hasn't deterred him, he also will lose his driving privileges for at least another 10 years. Velez said that, with the revocations Campbell has banked, he won't be driving "for a very long time." He also faces about $3,000 in penalties. Velez said he would argue at sentencing for a shorter prison sentence.

Authorities said Campbell's license has been suspended 78 times over the past 22 years, including 14 previous times for DWI. Some of the revocations were for failure to appear in court or pay fines. He still has outstanding DWI charges in Pequannock and Wayne, which the judge said he would like to see resolved by the time Campbell is sentenced in August.

DiGiacomo said the state would like to see consecutive terms behind bars for the outstanding DWIs.

"We won't agree to any free DWIs, so to speak," he said.

Injuries not severe

Bivins suffered an injured finger and his daughter sustained an abrasion on her chest from her seat belt after the crash. Campbell fled afterward, running into Loantaka Park. Authorities quickly apprehended him.

Campbell said he is willing to pay for any damage to the Bivins' pickup that insurance didn't cover. "I'm not trying to hide if I caused damage," he said.

He was not able to post $50,000 bail after his arrest to be freed from the Morris County jail. The judge revoked his bail after his plea so he will remain in jail until sentencing.

The number of times Campbell flouted motor vehicle laws recently prompted state Senate President Richard J. Codey to propose criminalizing some repeat drunken-driving offenses. He has filed a package of bills in the Legislature, including one that would make it a fourth-degree crime to drive under the influence while already on the suspended list for a DWI conviction. Codey's proposals also call for increased penalties for repeat DWI offenders who have a blood-alcohol content of .20 percent and higher and for those who lend cars to anyone whose license was suspended for a DWI.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said his office was adamant that it would seek the maximum penalties for Campbell.

A handcuffed Shaun P. Campbell is escorted into a Morristown courtroom Tuesday; he pleaded guilty to assault by auto, drunken driving and driving while on the revoked list because of 14 previous DWI convictions and numerous other motor vehicle violations.

(STAFF PHOTO: DAWN BENKO)

"This defendant has pled guilty to the maximum time allowed under the law. We need to ensure that these cases are handled sternly to ensure, as best as possible, the safety of the community from the dangers of drinking and driving," Bianchi said.

Flight diverted after passenger undresses in seat

 

Michigan college student tries to steal from jail

(AP) — KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan University student William K. Bradley has been sentenced for larceny in a building.

He stole a computer.

From the Kalamazoo County jail.

Where he already was serving a sentence in a different case.

Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Gary Giguere Jr. sentenced Bradley on Monday, telling the Kalamazoo resident his jailhouse theft was "the dumbest crime I've heard today" and "may be in the top half-dozen in my career."

Bradley, who has racked up six felonies and four misdemeanors by the age of 25, agreed with the judge, saying, "I'm not the best criminal."

Bradley asked for home arrest, but Giguere instead ordered him back to jail for six months.

Western spokeswoman Cheryl Roland tells the Kalamazoo Gazette Bradley is a sophomore at the university.

___

Information from: Kalamazoo Gazette

Robbers Run Out of Gas

By WBNG News

Boy charged with stealing from ambulance

By John Thompson
Elizabethton Bureau Chief
Johnson City Press

July 1, 2009

ELIZABETHTON – A boy was arrested by the Carter County Sheriff’s Department over the weekend on charges he stole medical supplies valued at $5,000 from the back of a Carter County Rescue Squad ambulance while paramedics were treating the boy’s mother.

The boy was also accused of stealing a purse from one of the rescue workers and breaking into a car several hours earlier and stole several credit cards, a BlackBerry phone and a PlayStation portable video game.

The thefts were discovered when the medical team was preparing to leave the John Alfred Loop residence and noticed their medical bags and oxygen tank were missing. The purse of one member of the team was also missing.

Lt. Mike Fraley of the sheriff’s department responded to the residence and received permission to search the house. Nothing was found, but upon leaving the home he noticed a boy coming out of a camper on the property. He received permission to search the camper and found several medical bags and an oxygen tank that belonged to the paramedics. More medical supplies and an oxygen sensor machine were found under a recliner.

The mother of the boy later found some of the items reportedly stolen in the earlier car burglary lying in a ditch beside the road.

The youth was charged with theft over $1,000 and taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City.

Published: Tuesday, June 30, 2009

TRACY KENNEDY

BANTAM — A city man who reportedly grew marijuana at his apartment and packaged his illegal drugs in McDonald‘s Chicken McNugget boxes is facing criminal charges.

Frank V. Gentile III, 17, 164 North Elm St., and three alleged buyers, Glenn M. Brandner, 19, 167 French St., Torrington, Brittany Alfano, 22, 1899 Mountain Road, Torrington, and Garrett Neumann, 19, 143 West Pearl Road, Torrington, were arrested at 10:46 p.m. Sunday by Torrington police.

Judge Corinne Klatt set Gentile’s bond at $5,000 and ordered him to appear in court again July 22.

Neumann posted a $500 bond and Brandner and Alfano were released on a $2,500 non-surety bond. The three defendants were scheduled to appear in court July 6.

Alfano, Neumann and another man were waiting in a car near North Elm Street and Norwood Street for Brandner, to come out of Gentile’s home, when Torrington police officer Quinn Sullivan saw their Hyundai Elantra, according to police. Sullivan was in the process of checking the passengers’ identification when Brandner came out of the apartment. The officer looked inside a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget box Brandner was carrying and found the marijuana, Brandner reportedly just bought from Gentile. A search of Gentile’s home yielded a seizure of 4.8 ounces of marijuana found in a plastic bag under Gentile’s couch, a large plastic bag containing marijuana plant stems, packaging material, a glass pipe containing burnt marijuana, a digital scale, a purple grinder, a pot containing marijuana plants, two cell phones, rolling papers and $89 in cash, according to court records.

During the search police said Gentile’s cell phone rang numerous times. Police recorded several text messages including the following: “yo you want 8 big weed plants” and another “that s-- you gave me has mold on it my ma ia allergic (misspelled message) to it and she got rushed to the hospital”, according to police.

Gentile, an unemployed store clerk, pleaded not guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of over four ounces of marijuana, sale of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana in a school zone and cultivation of marijuana.

Brandner was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana in a school zone.

Neumann was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal attempt to possess marijuana. Alfano was charged with criminal attempt to possess marijuana and possession of marijuana

Man nabbed for eating, then skipping the tab

by Allen Powell II, The Times-Picayune

An Arizona man with a taste for alcohol and no money to pay for it has been arrested three times in the past week for running up tabs at Jefferson Parish restaurants and then refusing to pay his bill.

Michael Bryant

Michael Bryant, 36, of Tucson, was booked with defrauding an innkeeper after he ate at restaurants and then laughed at business owners when they asked him to pay his bill.

Bryant is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of $1,000 bond. But he has been released twice due to prison overcrowding.

The first incident occurred June 22 at Melancon's Annex in Metairie, according to an incident report from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Bryant ordered a beer while he looked over the menu. He ordered a lunch plate and another beer, then two more beers while he ate his meal.

The report said that Bryant eventually began to fall asleep at the table. When the owner asked him to pay his $23 check and leave, Bryant allegedly laughed and told the owner he didn't have any money because he was homeless. When the owner threatened to call the police, Bryant again laughed and refused to pay.

Bryant is accused of pulling the stunt again at Pitre's Restaurant in Westwego on Thursday, and at Sun Ray Grill near Gretna on Monday, according to reports. At Sun Ray, he ordered four margaritas with his cheeseburger for a total of $30.99 and then tried to sneak out of the business. The report said that Bryant was chased down and detained until police arrived.

Col. John Fortunato said that Bryant has been released because overcrowding at the jail requires the Sheriff's Office to release many non-violent offenders. The jail must maintain a certain number of beds for violent offenders, such as those arrested on armed robbery charges, and officials there rate each offender based on their alleged crime. Bryant is accused of relatively minor offenses under the system.

West Bank woman arrested after cocaine found in her 3-year-old son's system

Allen Powell II

The Times-Picayune

Heather Bubrig

A West Bank woman has been booked with child desertion and improperly supervising her 3-year-old son after authorities said the boy ingested cocaine when she went on a weekend drug binge.

Heather Bubrig, 28, of 2732 Ridgefield Road was booked Monday with child desertion, improper supervision of a minor and illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of a minor. Bubrig remains at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in lieu of $9,500 bond.

Bubrig and her son went to the Siesta Motel at 5353 West Bank Expressway in Marrero on Friday, where she bought crack cocaine and spent several days smoking it, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office arrest report. The child somehow ingested some of the drug.

Deputies came to the room because Bubrig was wanted on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. They noticed her son "reeked of a foul odor" and was filthy, according to the report.

The child was taken to Oschner Medical Center-West Bank, where doctors discovered he had eczema and had not had his medication for several days. During the examination, doctors also found cocaine in the child's system after a urine test, according to the report.

The child's condition and whereabouts were not available late Wednesday.

Bubrig, who has a previous conviction for unauthorized use of a movable, was on probation at the time of her arrest.

The motel is known as a hot spot for narcotics activity and prostitution, according to the arrest report.

Motel owner Nanu Patel, who acknowledged that there have been problems at his business, said that he is working to clean it up. He said that he's owned the motel for a short time, and that it is very difficult to monitor what people do once they rent a room.

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 8:35 PM

Updated June 28, 2009

Man had boss killed to save job?

World

Polish clothes chain only hires Jehovah's Witnesses

 RIA Novosti Margarita Melikyan