Tim Frankenfield, Plainfield Township supervisors chairman, cited for drunkenness after falling at meeting

Douglas B. Brill

The chairman of the Plainfield Township Board of was cited for public drunkenness after he fell unconscious following a meeting he arranged, police said.

Tim Frankenfield, who is also the township's fire marshal, fell Thursday night after an emergency management meeting at the township municipal building, police said.

Frankenfield, 42, was found on his back with a half-empty bottle of liquor next to him, police said. Police said Frankenfield had hit his head against the corner of a wall, which today was cracked.

A transcript of a 911 call shows Frankenfield was unconscious for five minutes, from 7:45 p.m. to 7:50 p.m., which was moments after the conclusion of a meeting Frankenfield called among two supervisors, two fire officials, the township emergency management coordinator and the patrolman who ultimately cited him.

Frankenfield was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance, where a breath test revealed his blood-alcohol level was 0.17, police said.

Frankenfield, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to a separate public drunkenness charge, faces a $119.50 fine.

Fire company officials acknowledged Frankenfield smelled like alcohol during the meeting, police said. But police said it wasn't clear when or where Frankenfield had been drinking.

There were no indications anyone else at the meeting was drinking, police said.

Frankenfield did not immediately respond to a call for comment

Last Updated: June 19, 2009 - 09:36 AM

MOUNT VERNON — A 48-year-old nail technician could face an assault charge over a dispute with a teenager about a set of 1-inch long, pumpkin-orange fake fingernails.

The nail technician from Mukilteo denies she grabbed the 13-year-old Burlington girl. But the technician said they argued over the design of the girl’s nails and that the girl tried to leave without paying.

Both the teen and the technician left the scene unhappy — one without the specific design she wanted on her nails and the other without getting paid what she felt she was owed.

A Mount Vernon police officer was called to a nail spa on East College Way on Wednesday afternoon with a report that a nail technician had grabbed a girl and tried to remove her fake fingernails, according to police spokeswoman Jill Boudreau.

The technician said during an interview in her shop Thursday that the girl, her mother and grandmother came into the spa together. The girl picked out a set of nails with an intricate design that combined silver glitter, black scrolls and fake rhinestones.

The technician said she spent about 30 minutes gluing the nail set on the girl. Then she retrieved her supplies for the design. She soon realized she only had enough of the black scroll stickers for eight or nine nails.

She told the girl that she couldn’t do them all exactly the same, but she had similar designs, the technician said.

The Burlington teen became upset, and her mother joined in the argument, Boudreau said.

The girl and her mother didn’t want to pay, the technician said. She said she replied that without payment, the girl couldn’t keep the nails.

The teen told police the technician grabbed her hand and tried to pry the nails off.

The technician says the argument was strictly verbal.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” the technician said.

It’s basically a case of the technician’s word against the teen’s, Boudreau said.

One witness refused to cooperate with police.

The technician said she has worked in the manicure and pedicure business for 20 years and has never had an incident like Wednesday’s.

Police are referring the case to the city’s prosecutor for a possible misdemeanor assault charge.

The technician said the nails plus her labor were worth about $30. Once the police arrived, the girl and her mother agreed to pay $10.

June 20, 2009 11:08 am US/Eastern

Text Inadvertently Sent To NJ Cop Leads To Arrests

SALEM, N.J. (CBS)

 

A man who allegedly wanted to buy some marijuana was arrested after he mistakenly sent a text message to a southern New Jersey police officer.

Salem Police Cpl. Christopher Pew was off-duty when he received the message on his personal cell phone this week.

Since he did not know the person who sent the text or whether it was a serious request, Pew agreed to meet the texter at a local shopping center, and the person described what vehicle he would be driving.

That eventually led to the arrests of two Pennsville residents, 22-year-old John Milligan and 20-year-old Kelly Reilly, who were charged with loitering to commit a controlled dangerous substance offense.

Woman 'keys' Syracuse police vehicle when officers don't move it fast enough

A Syracuse woman, annoyed with police officers for blocking her car, allegedly called 911 to report the "emergency," then keyed their patrol car because they didn't move it quickly enough, police reports said.

Daphne Diaz, 23, was charged Saturday afternoon with criminal mischief.

Officers initially were called to Parkside Commons at 2119 E. Fayette St. to investigate a harassment complaint. While they were interviewing people, the woman, later identified as Diaz, approached them and insisted they move their cruiser because she needed to get to work. Officers told her they would be a few more minutes.

Dominick Philip's mother says her little boy was crushed by news that he can no longer visit the Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity.

"He was crying and saying he was never going to the library again," Melissa Philip recalls. "He just didn't understand what he did wrong."

The 7-year-old didn't do anything wrong. He just had some fun at the library on the day a Morning Call photographer turned up to snap photos.

Dominick led a parade of other kids around the library, a planned activity, and got his picture in the Allentown paper. The photographer included Dominick's hometown -- Tatamy -- in the caption; that's where the trouble started.

You see, Tatamy residents aren't part of the Nazareth library system. They're part of the Easton Area Public Library system.

A library employee checked Dominick's address after seeing his photo in the paper, then called and left a message on the family's answering machine with the news, Melissa Philip says.

"As a parent, it just makes you upset," she says, noting that it's outrageous someone took time to research her son. "It's a little over the top."

 

 

UPDATE

Tatamy boy can use Nazareth library card till end of 2009 -- UPDATE

 Bill Wichert

Monday June 22, 2009, 2:48 PM

 

Express-Times Photo | BILL ADAMS

Dominick Philip, 7, of Tatamy now can use

his Nazareth library card until the end of the

year. He is shown with his library card for Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity.

A 7-year-old Tatamy boy who was told last week that his Nazareth library card was invalid now can use the card until the end of the year.

Lynn Snodgrass-Pilla, director of the Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity, said today that Dominick Philip would be permitted to use the card through year's end.

"We're completely OK with what's going on here," Snodgrass-Pilla said in a telephone interview.

Snodgrass-Pilla hung up before providing additional information about the recent situation surrounding the boy's library card.

Melissa Philip, the boy's mother, mistakenly received a Nazareth library card for her son about a year ago -- an error that was revealed after Dominick's photo was published Thursday in The Morning Call of Allentown.

As a Tatamy resident, Dominick Philip is not permitted to receive a library card in Nazareth, but he can get a $5 annual subscription to the Easton Area Public Library. That subscription only permits the use of Easton Area facilities.

Believing that Melissa Philip lived within the Easton Area School District, a staff member at the Palmer branch of the Easton Area Public Library erroneously affixed a sticker to Dominick's Easton Area card that allows him to use the Nazareth library. The Access Pennsylvania sticker is not available to residents of Tatamy, which does not contribute funding to a library.

Jib-Jab: Superhero Obama - "He's Come to Save the Day!"

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Obama was there, of course, to participate in the merriment.

The video starts with the tune "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" in the background:

When arkness had descended all across the land,
A lone voice in the distance uttered "Yes! We can!"
He gave good speeches
Never sweat
He was real good at the Internets
He's Barack Obama!
He's come to save the day!

Watch the whole hilarious video:

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://snafu-ed.blogspot.com/2009/06/jibjab-superhero-obama-hes-come-to-save.html

Body left in casket has cops' interest

Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number

The Guardian has obtained this police footage of Emily Apple and Val Swain being arrested by surveillance officers after asking for their badge numbers at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year. The two women speak to Paul Lewis about their arrest, imprisonment and official complaint

Paul Lewis, Marc Vallée, Laurence Topham and Elliot Smith

Guardian Uk

Sunday 21 June 2009

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jun/21/fit-watch-kingsnorth-arrests

Trying to use counterfeit bill to pay traffic fines gets man in deeper trouble

Fort Worth Star Telegram

June 20, 2009

Virginia man wins spelling title after 51 years

Church blesses fathers with beer

Bottles of beer will be given to fathers who attend church, in an alternative "blessing" for Father's Day. 

Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Published: 9:00PM BST 20 Jun 2009

A senior bishop has backed the move, which is part of a Church of England initiative to put a Christian emphasis on the annual celebration of fatherhood.  Concerns over the lack of men attending services year-round has led clergy to offer a range of incentives today, including free beer, bacon rolls and chocolate bars. 

It is the first time that the Church has attempted to treat Fathers' Day in the same way as Mothering Sunday, which has traditionally formed part of its calendar.

The plan to distribute ale has upset groups working to tackle alchohol abuse, but the Rt Rev John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester, said that it could help churches to attract more men.    He argued that the free beer was intended to be symbolic of "the generosity of God".

Men at St Stephen's church in Barbourne, Worcester, will be handed bottles of beer by children during the service.   A prayer will be said for the fathers before the gifts are distributed. 

The Ven Roger Morris, archdeacon of Worcester, who will be leading the service at St Stephen's today, said that it was a practical way of sending a message to fathers.

"I don't see any other time that we can stop and remember fathers, and this is a gesture saying 'Here's something that will bless you,'" he said.

Posies of flowers are given to mums on Mothering Sunday and we wanted to give a laddish, blokeish gift to the men.   A bottle of beer hits the mark. The whole of life is to be celebrated in church.

"However, Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, criticised the Church, claiming that it was acting irresponsibly.   

"Bearing in mind country is facing rising health harms from its high level of alcohol consumption, anyone in a position of authority or respect should perhaps think twice about promoting alcohol to the public," he said. 

Bishop Inge said that it was wrong to claim that the move would encourage alcholism, and encouraged churches to use it as a way to reach out to men.

"Jesus created a lot more wine at a point in the party when some thought that there had already been enough drinking.   He was all in favour of partying, " the bishop said.  "We give wine away every Sunday, so giving away beer could be said to going downmarket a bit, but it's an attempt to speak of God's generosity.  "It's something that could be used as part of a service to encourage fathers to come.   Once they are in church, hopefully they will be challenged by the deeper questions around fatherhood

The bishop said that the Church was keen to support fathers and "to do everything possible to encourage them to take their responsibility very seriously".

A survey conducted by Opinion Business Research (ORB) found that less than a fifth of men claim to attend some type of church service once a month, compared with more than a quarter of women.

Some churches are trying to lure men back with the offer of free food. St Michael's, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, is holding a Hog Roast on the church forecourt and St Mary's, Arnold, Nottingham, will serve bacon rolls as men arrive at its service.

The Church has also published resources for clergy to use to hold special Fathers' Day services, including prayers for children to thank their fathers.

Sunday: The Longest Day of the Year

Robert Roy Britt

Live Science

Editorial Director

posted: 20 June 2009 09:30 am ET

If you've been waiting for the chance to get more done during the day, Sunday is your day, but only by a fraction of a second.

Like a giant timepiece, Earth and sun are configured for the summer solstice once again. This year it happens June 21, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun will be up a fraction of a second longer than the day prior or the day after. (The length of the full day, including night, does not change, of course.)

To grasp how it works, one must understand Earth's <snip>eyed leanings and some celestial configurations that even the ancients knew something about.

Our planet is tilted 23.5 degrees on its spin axis. On June 21 this year (some years it's June 20), the North Pole is pointing toward the sun as much as is possible.

Imagine Earth as an apple sitting on one side of a table, with the stem being the North Pole. Tilt the apple 23.5 degrees so the stem points toward a candle (the sun) at the center of the table. That's summer for the top half of the apple. Now keep the stem pointing in the same direction but move the apple to the other side of the table: Now the stem points away from the candle, and it's winter on the top half of the fruit.

The setup at June solstice puts the sun as high in our sky as it can go.

Scientists put the exact moment of the solstice at 1:45 a.m. ET, which is 05:45 Universal Time (keep in mind that the sun is always up somewhere, and the gods don't favor any time zone).

As long ago as the fourth century B.C., ancient peoples in the Americas understood enough of this that they could create giant calendars driven by sunlight. They built observatories of stone to mark the solstices and other times important for planting or harvesting crops. Shrines and even tombs were also designed with the sun in mind.

The sun comes up each day (except at the poles) because our planet rotates once on its axis every 24 hours or so. It is Earth's tilt, and our 365-day orbit around the sun, that explain much about how our world changes during the year.

Seasons: As Earth orbits the sun, the orientation of the planet's axis, in relation to the sun, changes constantly. A quarter of the way around in the orbit, fall sets in. By winter, we'll be on the other side of the sun, with the North Pole pointing away from the sun. That winter solstice, around Dec. 21 each year, will be the Northern Hemisphere's shortest day, and researchers in Antarctica will be basking in 24-hour sunlight.

Shifting stars: As we orbit the sun, the part of the night sky that's in our view changes. A given star sets about 4 minutes earlier each night. Over a month, this amounts to two hours. In winter, this all means that we're looking at stars that during the summer were in our daytime sky, overwhelmed of course by the glare of the sun. Since we complete a circle every year, the stars of summer, such as the Big Dipper, are always the stars of summer.

Endless summer: At the North Pole, the sun rises once a year, around March 19. It rises until the summer solstice, then sinks but does not truly set until around Sept. 24.

During summer on the top half of Earth, our planet is actually farther from the sun than during winter, a fact owing to our non-circular orbit around the sun. The difference is about 3 million miles (5 million kilometers), and it makes a difference in radiant heat received by the entire Earth of nearly 7 percent. But the difference is more than made up for by the longer days in the Northern Hemisphere summer with the sun higher in the sky.

Which brings up a common question: If the June solstice is the longest day of the year, why are the dog days of August typically hotter? It takes a while for the oceans to warm up, and a lot of weather on land is driven by the heat of the oceans.

The rise of the sun is seen at a 2,300-year-old structure in Peru, between Tower 1 and Cerro Mucho Malo at the June solstice, 2003, viewed from the western solar observatory. The sunrise position at the solstice has shifted to the right approximately 0.3° from the year 300 BC. Credit: Ivan Gh

Each year on June 20 or 21, the sun is as far north as it can get from the celestial equator, marking the solstice. Credit: Starry Night Software

Jewel gang caught after getaway driver refuses to break speed limit

A getaway driver who refused to break the speed limit during a police chase led to a gang of jewel robbers being caught and sent to prison for a total of 20 years.

As they raced from Simon Pure Jewellery Design in the town centre at Guildford, Surrey, where they terrorised two women shop assistants, passers by noted down the number of the escape vehicle.     

Police quickly picked up their trail and were pursued in squad cars with overhead support from the force helicopter.

But as the gang tried to escape, the driver Murray, from Tottenham, took his foot off the pedal every time they went through restricted areas.

Within 30 minutes of fleeing the shop the three man gang was arrested and were on Saturday behind bars.

Murray and accomplice Bradley Jayes, 31, from Islington each got five years while Darren Tomlinson, also from Islington who pleaded guilty to another jewellery store robbery, one count of handling a stolen car and one count of conspiracy to burgle, was jailed for 10 years.

In mitigation at Guildford Crown Court, John Warrington, who was defending Murray, said: "The ordeal for the woman lasted less than a minute and far from a fast getaway the police noted that at times the car was going under the speed limit                                                                                   

 Simon Pure Jewellery in Guildford