TIS, I know how much family means to you. How very sad, especially for someone so young. Please know that I'm sending hugs your way.

Thanks SB!! Stories like these, where parents lose children, make me reflect a whole lot on what is important.



TIS

Oh, and not to get too sad (but I guess I am). How does a parent tell a child who is in agonizing pain that "it's ok" to let go?

CNN) -- Police in New Jersey have made an arrest in connection with a public address system announcement at a Wal-Mart store telling "all blacks" to leave. More details are expected to be announced later Saturday.

Gloucester County prosecutors say that shortly before 5 p.m. on March 14, an unidentified male accessed the public address system at the Turnersville, New Jersey, Wal-Mart Supercenter Store. "All blacks need to leave the store," the voice announced. Store management contacted the Washington Township Police Department, which opened an investigation in conjunction with the county prosecutor's office, according to Deputy Police Chief John Dalesandro.

I worked a few years for Wal*Mart as a Support Manager (I was in charge of the overnight stocking crew) and would often use the phone p.a. system every night (to announce when it was "lunch time, break time, etc.). It's a simple 3 button code that has to be dialed on any of the store's phones and anyone who knew the code could make such an announcement.

I've heard some speculation that this particular case could have been done by some pro-union guy (Wal*Mart is famous for its anti-union stance) trying to embarrass the chain.

updated 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A 16-year-old boy who police said made an announcement at Walmart ordering all black people in the southern New Jersey store to leave was charged with harassment and bias intimidation, authorities said Saturday.

The boy, whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile, went on the intercom at Walmart's Washington Township store Sunday evening and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now," police said.

The teen was arrested Friday and released to the custody of his parents; police did not know whether he had a lawyer.

It was a fight outside a pub. 3 men have been questioned but only one charged so far,with manslaughter,assault and possession of a noxious substance. Apparently they were fighting and must have sprayed him with CS gas,he has staggered into the road and been hit by a car. Truly awful

Bummer story Yogi.

I work about 2 miles from the Turnersville Wal-Mart. South Jersey has its share of Nazis and racists.

In Camden NJ a judge threw out 185 drug arrests because police tainted the evidence. Good job boys.

N.J. FBI case led to Detroit
Ex-mayor's father linked to two corruption investigations in 2007
Paul Egan / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The father of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was a subject of not just one -- but two -- FBI public corruption investigations in 2007.

FBI agents investigating political corruption in New Jersey followed leads in late 2006 that led them to Bernard N. Kilpatrick and raising concerns about upsetting a separate probe by the FBI in Detroit, a person familiar with the investigation said Sunday.

Bernard Kilpatrick had been under investigation by the FBI in Detroit for about two years when he came to the attention of FBI agents in New Jersey conducting Operation Broken Boards, a corruption probe that would lead to convictions of 14 New Jersey officials, including state assemblymen and school board officials.

The New Jersey FBI snagged corrupt politicians by setting up a dummy company called Coastal Solutions LLC and offering bribes in return for insurance-related contracts.

NJ-Detroit Connection

Over the weekend the city I grew up in Elyria, Ohio a Police Officer was laid to rest. He was shot in the line of duty. He was a friend of my Brother. Driving around the city flags were at half staff. The route of funeral procession was lined with flags.

Officer James Kerstetter

I'm sorry to hear that, Mig. We had a police officer shot in the Bronx just last night. He's only 25 years old and an Italian American, to boot. His name is Robert Salerno and he's from Silver Lake/West Harrison up in Westchester. He was hit 3 times, but his bullet proof vest likely saved his life.

Here's another Wonder-winner from the Land of the Stupid Miscreants:

Local paper reported about three weeks ago that a guy reported that his meat delivery truck had been stolen off of one of the main streets while he was gone for 10 minutes for a slice of pizza. Said he took the keys, etc. Paper later reported that the truck had been found, stuck in mud, on the other side of town.

Yesterday the paper reported that the driver confessed that he'd driven the truck to the other side of town for a, uh, tryst with a lady friend, while he was supposed to be delivering meat to stores. But he couldn't get the truck out of the mud after he was finished. Rather than face the music with his employer, he concocted the stolen-truck story. Cops charged him with making a false statement, forgery (by signing the false statement), and he was fired. Moral of story: deliver the meat you're supposed to--not your own.

A school counselor called police after talking to a 14-year-old girl who walked into the school library wearing only underpants and a T-shirt.

In a report released Tuesday dated March 5, an officer said a librarian questioned the girl about her apparel about 12:20 p.m. and notified the counselor when the girl seemed confused. She was checked out medically and nothing seemed to be wrong, according to the report. The girl first told the counselor she overslept and forgot to put on pants before leaving for school. Later she changed her story, saying she was walking to school and was pushed from behind. She said she didn’t remember anything after that.

Officers walked the area where she said she was pushed and found nothing. Then they walked her route to school but found nothing. An officer checked the school video camera system and found video of her wearing pants from earlier in the day. Her locker was checked but contained no pants. The girl’s father arrived at school and took her home. He reported later that he found a pair of black pants in her backpack. The girl told police that another girl told her in a restroom that her “dress” was nice but was a little short.

Or think with the big head and not the little head.

Alleged militia members to appear before judge
By Niraj Warikoo
Free Press Staff Writer

Defendants arrested during raids over the weekend in Lenawee and Washtenaw counties linked to a Christian-militia group in the area are expected to make appearances in court today in Detroit.

Gina Balaya, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Michigan's Eastern District, said those arrested in the raids involving the group Hutaree are scheduled to begin appearing at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald A. Scheer.

Balaya could not confirm this morning how many arrests were made during the raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two Ohio towns. A third arrest made in northeast Illinois stemmed from a raid in northwest Indiana. The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation led by the FBI in Michigan, according to a statement from agents in Illinois.

The raids in Michigan took place Saturday and Sunday at undisclosed locations, said Detroit FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold.

“We can confirm that there were law enforcement activities in the Lenawee/Washtenaw County area,” Berchtold said.

Tell it to the judge

(CNN) -- Nine Massachusetts teenagers have been charged with involvement in a months-long campaign of bullying that led to the suicide in January of a 15-year-old girl, a prosecutor said Monday.

Phoebe Prince's body was found hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment in South Hadley, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel told reporters in the western Massachusetts town of Northampton.

"It appears that Phoebe's death on January 14 followed a torturous day for her when she was subjected to verbal harassment and physical abuse," she said.

Earlier in the day, Prince had been harassed as she studied in the library at South Hadley High School, apparently in the presence of a faculty member and several students, none of whom reported it until after the death, Scheibel said.

A 32-year-old Orion Township woman has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty in Oakland County Circuit Court of performing a sex act on a 13-year-old.

Norma Lira Case

Not really our neck of the woods. I wasn't quite sure where to put this.

The President of Poland,Lech Kaczynski, and his wife and 19 others killed in a plane crash today. I don't know anything about the Polish President, but how sad.

Some of us know what it's like to lose a President, although never thru a plane crash that I am aware. Anyway, the shock/grief must be the same.

I didn't see this posted elsewhere, but sorry if it is.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/10/poland.president.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=C1

TIS

Road Rage Suspect had CCW
It's not like I wanted to shoot the guy

Recording released of Hutaree leader.
We are legion

I guess this is what Kermit the Frog would sound like if he were a militia leader.

Cops: Would-be robber shot and killed by merchant
George Hunter / The Detroit News
Detroit -- A 20-year-old gunman went into a southwest-side antiques shop Thursday intending to rob the place, only to be allegedly shot and killed by the owner, a man more than three times his age, police said.

The alleged robber entered the Antiques Bought and Sold on Michigan Avenue near Parkinson late Thursday afternoon brandishing a pistol -- but the store owner, 63, allegedly pulled out his own gun and fired several shots, killing the would-be thief, Detroit Police 2nd Deputy Chief John Roach said.

"The perpetrator managed to stumble out to the street," Roach said, adding that the store owner had a valid concealed weapons permit.

It's 1:30AM here, I'm hearing strange moaning coming from the house next door... *raises an eyebrow*

Hutaree free on bond.

A federal judge in Detroit today ordered the release of nine members of a Lenawee County Christian militia group freed on bond over the objections of federal prosecutors.

“The United States is correct that it need not wait until people are killed before it arrests conspirators,” U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said in a decision this morning. “But, the Defendants are also correct: their right to engage in hate-filled, venomous speech, is a right that deserves First Amendment protection.”

She said federal prosecutors failed to persuade her that the defendants must be jailed until trial.

Back on the street

One Detroit Police Officer killed, four others wounded.

Detroit -- One officer was killed and four others were wounded while responding to a 911 call early this morning to a vacant home in northeast Detroit.

Officer Brian Huff, 42, a 12-year veteran of the force, was identified as the slain officer. The four wounded officers and one suspect were taken to St. John Hospital. The four officers and the suspect -- only identified as a man in his mid-20s -- are expected to recover.

Police Chief Warren Evans said this is the first time in five years that a DPD officer has been killed in the line of duty.

East Side shooting

This is creepy: A West Hollywood woman slashes people in Target Store, Psycho style.
Evidently she kept shouting, "There is no witness protection program."


TIS


Layla Trawick used a butcher's knife and a carving knife to attack the victims, using both blades at the same time — one in each hand, like in the movie "Psycho," sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said

"She was literally walking up and down the aisles slashing people," he said.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_re_us/us_target_stabbings

was there music playing while she was slashing people, and a skelton wearing a wig in a rocker nearby?

overall though she needs to be put away

Bam,

That's what I'm thinking. I just can't see/picture a "sane" scenario to what she did. I mean, a knife in each hand?? But damn, those poor people.


TIS

Csn you imsgine? You're walking around Target picking up some detergent, some toilet paper, perhaps shampoo and WHAM, some whack job slashes you while screaming nonsense?

That's scary as hell.

Never should have been out on the street. Now of course everyone is pointing fingers.
Suspect got breaks

"Stock Selloff May Have Been Triggered by a Trader Error
In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses in what possibly could have been a trader error. According to multiple sources, a trader entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble."...from the newswires.

And these dumb fucks influence our economy. Jeez is this world one big FUBAR.

They came to mourn a soldier and dear family friend.

They ended up behind bars.

Now, the Lowdens of Gratiot County find themselves in the midst of a legal battle that could strike down Michigan's 2006 funeral protest law -- hastily enacted in reaction to incendiary protests at military funerals by the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.

In the Lowdens' case, they weren't protesting the 2007 funeral. The family had invited them to attend. But they were pulled over for having a few handmade signs critical of the Bush administration in their van window as they drove in the funeral procession.
Funeral Protest Law Traps Mourners