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Council Tells Couple They Are Too Fat To Adopt

On Line (BBC Radio 5 Live/PA)

January 12, 2009

A married couple have spoken of their shock after being turned down to adopt on the grounds that one of them is too fat.

Damien and Charlotte Hall approached Leeds City Council about adoption after discovering that they were unable to have children of their own.

They were told that Mr Hall’s size, at six foot one and a weight of 24-and-a-half stone (156kg), made him morbidly obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 42.

In a letter, the council told them his BMI must be below 40 before the couple could be considered as potential parents because of a risk he could become ill or even die.

“I am writing to confirm that we are unable to progress an application from you at this time. This is due to the concerns that the medical advisers have expressed regarding Mr Hall’s weight,” the council wrote.

Today the couple, who have been together for 14 years and married for 11, said they felt the ruling was harsh.

“The bottom line is I’m too fat. I just feel as though we were only judged on my weight and not all the other good things about us," said Mr Hall, 37, who works in a call centre.

“We don’t drink or smoke and we could give a child a happy and safe home.”

Mrs Hall, 31, a nanny, agreed: “I think it’s just gutting. We had an inkling they’d say something about (his) weight but to be turned down flatly just on that, it’s just harsh.

“My husband has a full-time job and is very active. He walks our dog at least twice a day and doesn’t feel unfit or unwell.

“You’ve got a child in care who’s going to get up tomorrow morning not knowing where it’s going, and we’re here ready to take a child on. They seem to be saying it’s better for them to be in care and being shoved from pillar to post just in case Damien dies.”

The council said that it would only relent if Mr Hall demonstrated that he had taken off and could keep off the weight.

“We will require Mr Hall to have a further medical in six months’ time, which will be considered by our medical advisor," it said in its letter

“As you are aware, the Adoption Panel are unlikely to approve applicants with a BMI over 40 because of the long-term health risks. It would therefore be to your advantage to begin the assessment with an up-to-date medical where your BMI is clearly recorded as being under 40, and to demonstrate that you are able to maintain this weight loss over the period of the assessment.

"I would be grateful if you could contact me when you feel you are ready to continue with the process taking into account the above advice.”

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said it did not issue guidance on maximum weight for potential adopters to local authorities.

In a statement the council said: “The council’s adoption service has a legal responsibility to ensure that children are placed with adopters who are able to provide the best possible lifelong care.

“Part of this responsibility is advice for applicants on a range of suitability criteria, including any health and lifestyle issues which may impact on an applicant’s long term ability to adopt.

“Expert advice on health and medical issues for applicants is provided by medical advisors to the council’s adoption service, in line with BAAF (British Agencies Adoption and Fostering) guidance.

“Mr and Mrs Hall’s application to adopt is still active and they have been given advice on how best to proceed regarding this issue.”

Entry #63

107 Year Old Woman Looking for 1st Husband

January 12, 2009 12:05 AM

BEIJING (Reuters) - A 107-year-old Chinese woman who was afraid to marry when she was young has decided to look for her first husband and hopes to find a fellow centenarian so they will have something to talk about, a Chinese paper reported.

 

Wang Guiying is worried she is becoming a burden to her aging nieces and nephews since breaking her leg when she was 102 and had to stop doing chores like washing her clothes.

 

"I'm already 107 and I still haven't got married," the Chongqing Commercial Times quoted her saying. "What will happen if I don't hurry up and find a husband?"

 

Born in southern Guizhou province the child of a salt merchant, Wang grew up watching her uncles and other men scold and beat their wives and often found her aunt crying in the woodshed after an attack, the paper said.

 

"All the married people around there lived like that. Getting married was too frightening," she said of an era when Chinese women had few rights and low social standing.

 

 

Many also had their feet bound in an excruciating process aimed at making them look more dainty and marriageable.

 

After Wang's father, mother and older sister died, she still shied away from marriage. Instead she moved to the countryside and survived as a farmer until she was 74 years old and no longer strong enough to work in the fields, the report said.

 

Her nephew in the booming city of Chongqing then took Wang in, but she is worried he and her other nephews and nieces are too old to take care of her now even the youngest is 60.

 

"My nephews and nieces are getting older and their children are already tied up with their own families and I am becoming more and more of a burden," she said.

 

Local officials have said they are happy to help Wang search for a 100-year old groom, and suggested her family get in touch with old people's homes to find candidates, the paper said.

 

(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sugita Katyal)

Entry #62

Woman Thinks She Will Win Then Wins $500,000 In Lottery

Fri, Jan. 09, 2009

BY BECCY TANNER

The Wichita Eagle

Sandra Vines thought she might win something.

She did: $500,000 in an instant scratch game by the Kansas and Iowa lotteries.

"I just felt it," the Wichita woman told Midwest Millions lottery officials Friday when contacted by phone after the drawing.

"I'm going to use this prize money to buy a house," the 45-year-old single mother of five children said.

Vines attends Baker University and starts a new job Monday at Via Christi Hope in Wichita.

She said she submitted four to five entries for the drawing.

Entry #61

Masked Man Waited In Line to Rob Bank With Toy Gun

The Associated Press

Fri, Jan. 09, 2009 02:25 PM

A man may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at an Ohio bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup. Police in Stow near Akron say 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights was arrested minutes later on Thursday following a brief car chase.

Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and told the teller to give him all the money. He made off with an undisclosed amount.

Police Captain Rick Myers says it's unusual for a masked robber to wait in line at a bank.

Goldshtein was held at the Summit County Jail Friday on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order. Municipal Court records don't identify an attorney for Goldshtein.

 

In this booking mug shot released by Stow (Ohio) Police Department, Feliks Goldshtein is shown, Thursday, Jan.8, 2009. A  bank robber  may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at an Ohio bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup. Police say a teller asked the man, identified by police as Goldshtein, to take off the ski mask he was wearing iff before being served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and told the teller to give him all the money.
Stow Police Department
In this booking mug shot released by Stow (Ohio) Police Department, Feliks Goldshtein is shown, Thursday, Jan.8, 2009. A bank robber may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at an Ohio bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup. Police say a teller asked the man, identified by police as Goldshtein, to take off the ski mask he was wearing iff before being served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and told the teller to give him all the money.
Entry #60

Doctors Left Knife In Woman's Head

McQueen Was Victim Of Stabbing Incident In 2005

 

CNN
UPDATED: 10:42 am EST January 7, 2009

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville woman plans to sue Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center after she said part of a knife was left behind in her head, local television station WJXT reported.

 

A good look at an X-ray of Edith McQueen's head reveals an object next to the her jaw bone. That object, according to the woman's attorney, is a piece of a knife from an attack that took place more than three years ago.

 

"Somehow, some way, the knife was left in her head. She presented to the emergency room for treatment from the stab wounds to the head, and they were simply stitched up and Mrs. McQueen was sent home," said McQueen's attorney, Chad Roberts.

 

In August of 2005, McQueen was stabbed twice from behind in a random act of violence. According to her discharge papers from the hospital, the woman was treated and released the next day after the stab wound was cleaned and sutured loosely and she was listed in stable but good condition.

 

"A simple X-ray is comparatively easy, inexpensive and accessible, and you would think that a stab wound would probably justify a $25 or $50 X-ray to make sure no foreign body, either dirt or gravel or some foreign object, remained in the wound site, but apparently that didn't happen," Roberts said.

 

Roberts said his client ended up going back to Shands because she complained of headaches and was scheduled to have an MRI. That's when they made the discovery through an X-ray that the blade was still inside her head.

 

Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center released a statement saying, "We will not discuss the particulars of any patient's confidential healthcare services."

 

Shands said it did not know about the lawsuit until the media contacted them on Tuesday.

 

Roberts said his client's lawsuit is still in the investigative phase and has yet to be filed. He said he hasn't talked to Shands about removing the blade, but he hopes they will plan to do so.
Entry #59

Funeral Home Used As Meth Lab Across The Street From Sheriff's Office

10:23 pm ET Thu January 08, 2009 - WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.

WJLA-TV

A funeral home might be a place for eternal rest, but police say an Arkansas man saw an opportunity to build a methamphetamine lab undisturbed by the living. There was just one problem - the funeral home was across the street from the sheriff's office. Officers said Robert Lee Lewis, 43, left the light on in the basement of the Higginbotham Funeral Home in Walnut Ridge on Dec. 3. Officers noticed the light on after hours and walked into the funeral home through an open door. Inside, police said they found all the components necessary to build a meth lab. Officers arrested Lewis, a former employee at the funeral home, when he returned.

Lewis faces charges of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture, possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use, manufacture of methamphetamine and possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture. He is free on $2,500 bond, pending a Jan. 21 court hearing.

A telephone number for Lewis could not be found Thursday night.

Entry #58

School Bus Driver buys Liquor Ask A Student to Hide it After Police Stop

The Associated Press

1/08/09   02:44 PM

BILLINGS, Mont. – A school bus driver made an unscheduled stop at a liquor store, then allegedly asked a student to help hide her purchases when police stopped her, the district superintendent said. It does not appear the driver had been drinking, Billings Public Schools Superintendent Jack Copps said. No charges had been filed but the driver quit her job this week.

 Copps said someone spotted the bus at the liquor store on Dec. 12 and called authorities. No students were on the bus at the time, he said.

 By the time officers caught up with the bus, the driver had picked up some middle school students and allegedly asked one student to hide a paper bag with bottles of alcohol near the back of the bus, Copps said.

 Copps said the school immediately notified its bus contractor, First Student, that the woman was not to transport any of the district's students.

 School district policy prohibits alcohol on school property or in vehicles transporting students. Copps described the incident as "embarrassing."

 

Entry #57

Man Trapped In Bathtub for 5 Days

Wed Jan 7, 9:16 PM

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY - An 82-year-old man who slipped and fell in the bathtub of his Salt Lake City home says he was trapped there for five days.

 

Lou Beddow was found Tuesday by a neighbour who noticed Beddow hadn't been walking his dog for a while. The retired postal carrier says he survived on tap water after he slipped and fell in the tub Friday.

 

Salt Lake City Fire Department spokesman Scott Freitag says Beddow was hospitalized in serious condition and may have suffered compression injuries.

 

Police in a Milwaukee suburb say they also found an elderly woman who fell in her bathtub.

 

The 86-year-old woman from Cudahy was discovered Tuesday and says she was trapped for four days.

 

She was hospitalized, but her condition is not known.

Entry #56

Angry Man Opens Neighbor's Door With Chain Saw

The Associated Press
1/07/09  04:30 PM EST
SCRANTON, Pa. -An eastern Pennsylvania man may face up to 37 years in prison for tearing open a neighbor's door with a chain saw. Police say 34-year-old Robert Kane began sawing through the front door of Jamie Zaleski's apartment in Scranton while Zaleski and several friends ran out the back.
Kane was angry because a friend of Zaleski's parked in front of his house across the street. Police said when Zaleski asked who was at the door, Kane said it was his worst nightmare, told him, "Open the door or I'll cut it down," and started sawing.
A jury convicted Kane on Tuesday of charges including attempted burglary, attempted criminal trespass and terroristic threats.
He was held in lieu of $20,000 bail. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.
The Scranton Times
Entry #55

Boy, 11, Missing for 10 Years Never Reported Until Now

By ROXANA HEGEMAN,

AP
January 6, 2009
EL DORADO, Kan. (Jan. 6) - The Kansas parents who failed to report their 11-year-old adopted son missing nearly a decade ago are "people of interest" as authorities search for him nationwide, a sheriff said Monday.
Investigators only recently learned Adam Herrman was missing and are focused on finding him, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said. Adam was 11 when he disappeared in 1999 from a mobile home park in Towanda where he lived.

Authorities would not say whether they believed Adam, who would now be 21, is alive.  "We are working it as if it is a death but we are not leaning one way or the other," Murphy said.

The family's attorney, Warner Eisenbise, said his clients did not harm the child. He said the Herrmans are innocent of any wrongdoing other than not reporting their son missing, which is against Kansas law.

Doug and Valerie Herrman adopted Adam at 2 1/2 years old, and he had been in foster care before that. The parents have not been arrested or charged with any crime, and Murphy said no charges would be filed while investigators focused on the search.

"He was a problem child. He ran away frequently to the point of exasperation," Eisenbise said. "My clients feel very guilty that the last time he left they didn't make an attempt to locate him. Every other time, the police were called or he wandered back. They assumed he found one of his siblings or went back to his biological parents."

 

Murphy said investigators have not confirmed whether Adam had a history of running away. The family has cooperated with investigators, he said.

.

Adam was homeschooled when he disappeared, Eisenbise said.

Murphy said a search of the empty lot where the family's mobile home once stood gave investigators one answer they sought, but he did not elaborate other than to say no human remains were found.

Murphy's office did not receive a missing persons report until contacted recently by Sedgwick County's exploited and missing children's unit. He declined to say who tipped them off. It was not clear exactly when they learned of the boy's disappearance.

Murphy said a search of the empty lot where the family's mobile home once stood gave investigators one answer they sought, but he did not elaborate other than to say no human remains were found.
The Herrmans now live in the Wichita suburb of Derby, in neighboring Sedgwick County. 

Investigators have not found any confirmed data on Adam's whereabouts since 1999.

Murphy asked the public for help and issued a plea to the missing boy himself: "If Adam Herrman is alive out there — and he would see this — I would ask him to

contact us immediatelyThis age progression image provided by National Center for Missing ...

                                        "AGE ENHANCED PHOTO!!!!"

Entry #54

Boy, 6, Misses Bus Tries Driving Family Car to School

The Associated Press

1:27 p.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 6, 2009


WICOMICO CHURCH, Va. - Having missed his bus, a 6-year-old Virginia boy tried to drive to school in his family's sedan — and crashed.

State police say the boy suffered only minor injuries and eventually arrived at school after being evaluated at a local hospital. Police did not immediately return a call Tuesday asking who brought him there.

It happened around 7:40 a.m. Monday on Route 360, about 61 miles east of Richmond.

Police say the boy, who wasn't identified, missed the bus, took the keys to his family's 2005 Ford Taurus and started toward school while his mother was asleep.

He ran off the road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole. Police say he wasn't wearing a safety belt.

The incident remains under investigation.

Entry #53

4- Year Old Boy Shoots Babysitter for Stepping On His Foot

The Associated Press
2009-01-05 21:03:47
JACKSON, Ohio (Jan. 5) - Police say a 4-year-old boy in southern Ohio shot his baby sitter because the sitter accidentally stepped on his foot.
Police said 18-year-old Nathan Beavers and several other teenagers were baby-sitting several young children in a mobile home in Jackson on Sunday when the shooting occurred.
Witnesses told police the 4-year-old retrieved the shotgun from a bedroom closet and shot Beavers. Police said the child was angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot.
Beavers was hospitalized with minor pellet wounds to his arm and side.
Police say another teen was also injured with shotgun pellets.
Jackson County Sheriff John Shashteen said authorities are investigating the shooting. The child has not been charged.
Entry #52

Bar Owners Pay $100,000 for Tuna

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 5, 8:13 am ET
A Japanese bluefin tuna that fetched nearly 10 million yen at the year-opening AP – A Japanese bluefin tuna that fetched nearly 10 million yen at the year-opening auction is shown at Tokyo's …

TOKYO – Two sushi bar owners paid more than $100,000 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction Monday, several times the average price and the highest in nearly a decade, market officials said.

The 282-pound (128-kilogram) premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched 9.63 million yen ($104,700), the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said.

Yoshida said the extravagant purchase — about $370 per pound ($817 per kilogram) — went to a Hong Kong sushi bar owner and his Japanese competitor who reached a peaceful settlement to share the big fish. The Hong Kong buyer also paid the highest price at last year's new year event at Tokyo's Tsukiji market, the world's largest fish seller, which holds near-daily auctions.

A slightly bigger imported bluefin caught off the eastern United States sold for 1.42 million yen ($15,400) in Monday's auction.

"It was the best tuna of the day, but the price shot up because of the shortage of domestic bluefin," Yoshida said, citing rough weather at the end of December. Buyers vied for only three Oma bluefin tuna Monday, compared to 41 last year.

Typical tuna prices at Tokyo fish markets are less than $25 per pound ($55 per kilogram). But bluefin tuna is considered by gourmets to be the best, and when sliced up into small pieces and served on rice it goes for very high prices in restaurants.

Premium fish — sometimes sliced up while the customers watch — also have advertising value, underscoring a restaurant's quality, like a rare wine.

Due to growing concerns over the impact of commercial fishing on the bluefin variety's survival, members of international tuna conservation organizations, including Japan, have agreed to cut their bluefin catch quota for 2009 by 20 percent to 22,000 tons.

 

Entry #51

Powerball Jackpot Huge but Sales are Slow

Sunday was the first day Floridians could buy tickets for Powerball, the multistate lottery with bigger jackpots than Florida's own games.

MiamiHerald

Sunday, 01.04.09

BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH

Peter Vasquez strolled out of the Publix supermarket near Northeast 90th Street and Biscayne Boulevard on Sunday, several lottery tickets in hand.

For $8, the 57-year-old bought Mega Money and Fantasy 5 tickets -- and a stake in the newest game to reach the Sunshine State: Powerball.

''I heard so much about it,'' said Vasquez, who said he buys lottery tickets just about every day. ``I figure, let's see what happens.''

Tickets for the multistate lottery known for steep payouts and even steeper odds went on sale in Florida for the first time Sunday. The next drawing -- with an estimated jackpot of $105 million -- will be broadcast from Universal Studios in Orlando at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday.

Powerball mania wasn't rampant Sunday. While some stores, including News Plus on University Drive in Tamarac, were busy, others reported few Powerball buyers.

A man behind the counter at the BP gas station at the corner of U.S. 1 and Northeast Sixth Street in Fort Lauderdale said Sunday he had sold only two Powerball tickets, and one of them was to himself.

Still, Powerball has given anyone with a dollar and a dream a chance -- a very slight chance -- to strike it rich. In each drawing, five white balls are pulled out of a drum of 59, along with one red ball -- the Powerball -- chosen from among 39 balls.

With the Sunshine State included, the starting jackpot will grow to $20 million. Average jackpots are expected to shoot up to $141 million, lottery officials previously said, as opposed to the current average of $96 million.

Florida is the 30th state to join the mix, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. State leaders decided last year to join in the hope of bringing in more money after profits from the Florida Lottery began to drop.

But adding Florida also makes the chances of winning the jackpot lower. Before, they were one in 146 million. Now, they will be one in more than 195 million.

Long odds don't scare Vasquez.

''I'm hoping to get a big one,'' said Vasquez, an antiques dealer who intends to keep on buying Florida Lottery tickets, too.

LOTTO WINNER

He has company. Powerball business was brisk at News Plus, 5781 N. University Dr., Tamarac, which sold the $6 million Florida Lotto winner in the Dec. 31 drawing.

Interest in the Florida Lotto game was down, which is typical after a recent win brings the jackpot down to $3 million, said Vince Maiorino, who runs the store with his wife, Grace.

VARIOUS GAMES

About two-thirds of their ticket sales Sunday were for Powerball, with the other third for the various Florida Lottery games, he said. Grace Maiorino estimated that, as of 8:45 p.m. Sunday, the store had sold about $2,600 worth of Powerball tickets.

''People that normally come in to buy Lotto are buying Lotto and Powerball,'' Maiorino said. ``And we see people coming in just to buy Powerball.''

Back at the Publix on Biscayne Boulevard, retiree Claude LaRoche stopped to ask a cashier about the new game.

''I play Lotto every week, and I'm going to play Powerball,'' said LaRoche, of Miami Shores.

``It's $105 million, so I'll take my chances.''

BUYING MONDAY

He said he would come back Monday to buy his tickets.

LaRoche said he spends about $15 a week on Florida Lotto, and said he plans to buy between $5 and $10 worth of Powerball tickets as well.

''It's very difficult,'' LaRoche said, ``but someone's gotta win.''

 

Entry #50

Four Confess In Detail To Murder They Didn't Commit

Chuck Shepherd – Sun Jan 4, 12:00 am ET

LEAD STORY: How can four people (or in another case, six) confess in detail to a murder even though they had nothing to do with it?

Aggressive police questioning of a weak-willed suspect can produce an occasional false confession, but experts now believe that six men in a single case, and four in another, confessed to group crimes they did not commit, even though some described their roles in vivid detail.

Recent DNA evidence in a 1989 Beatrice, Neb., murder case implicated only a seventh man, and similar evidence in a 1997 Norfolk, Va., murder case implicated only a fifth man, who insists he acted alone. (Governors in both states are currently mulling pardons for the men.)

 It is still possible that the six, or the four, are guilty as charged and that the DNA was left in completely separate attacks on the victims, but the more likely explanation, say psychologists, is that people with low self-esteem or mental problems, or who are drug- or alcohol-addled, are more easily convinced of fantasy.

[Omaha World-Herald, 11-28- 08; Washington Post, 12-15-08]

Entry #49
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