My wife and I are sick about this. I don't know the woman well, but my wife goes to the same gym as she does, and has actually been to her home. She used to work in my doctor's office, as well.

Edwin Coello, ex-NYPD cop with abusive past, eyed in dissapearance of estranged wife Tina Adovasio

BY Kerry Burke, Alison Gendar, Bob Kappstatter and Joe Kemp
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A Bronx mother of four is missing and feared dead - and investigators are eying her husband, a former NYPD cop with a history of domestic violence, sources said.

Tina Adovasio, 40, was last seen leaving the tidy home Throggs Neck home she shared with her husband, former housing cop Edwin Coello, about 9 p.m. Friday, sources said.

Police sources told the Daily News a blurry image of a man believed to be Coello was caught on tape dragging a duffel bag "big enough to hold a body" from the home on the same night.

Investigators tracked Adovasio's cell phone and got hits in High Bridge and Morris Heights on Monday, leading them to believe that her body may have been dumped in one location and her belongings in another, the sources said.

Cops are expected to launch an even wider search Wednesday for Adovasio's body.

Coello, 40, told police he had an argument with the nurse and mother of his 5-year-old daughter before she stormed out of their Edison Ave. apartment, sources said.

The couple is known for their rocky history; records show Adovasio filed for divorce last month. Coello has been busted at least three times for domestic incidents against Adovasio.

"He had beat her before," Adovasio's mother, Adrienne Susco, told The News. "She needed stitches and had two black eyes," she said of an incident that happened a couple of years ago.

Coello - who was forced to quit in 2000 after reports of domestic abuse against his first wife - was questioned about Adovasio's disappearance.

Detectives asked if they could search his car, but Coello clammed up and refused, sources said. He was later released because of lack of evidence.

Late Tuesday, police found Coello's Nissan Maxima in the Bronx and got a search warrant to look for evidence.

His lawyer, Renee Hill, said Coello has fully cooperated. "He's the one who filed the report," Hill said. "He doesn't know where she is."

But Adovasio's mother disputed the claim. "He lied and told the cops she had run off before and left the kids," Susco said. "Never, ever would she leave her children."

Susco said her daughter took the four children to Florida to get away for a couple of weeks, but that was all.

"Oh, my God, I can't even say how devastating this is. She was so beautiful," said Susco.

jkemp@nydailynews.com

With Kerry Wills

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime...l#ixzz1Gmh5y4nz

They looked happy together there. You just never know about people....

BTW: British weightlifting champion David Prowse played the body of Darth Vader but Jones got all the fame from being the voice--which pissed off Prowse. Prowse also played Julian, Frank's bodyguard, in "Clockwork Orange."

Lucas promised Prowse that when Darth Vader was to be unmasked at the end of "Return of the Jedi," the world would finally see his face. But Prowse pissed him off so much with his constant nagging, he replaced him with Sebastian Shaw. In hindsight, he probably should have kept quiet.

Committing a crime at a restaurant regularly frequented by Detroit's power elite and that is virtually surrounded both by city officers walking the beat and by city and county police buildings isn't very bright. But it is quite funny...

Crowd helps prosecutor stop would-be thief
Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

Detroit —Even a top official in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office was surprised by all the help he got when someone swiped his wallet from a downtown restaurant table.
"It was just a dumb, young kid. I was yelling that he stole my wallet and I was running, and people kept joining me," said Donn Fresard, chief of staff for Prosecutor Kym Worthy, on Thursday.

"The whole chase only lasted like 17 seconds, but it became a universal community effort."

Fresard was paying his lunch tab at Fishbones in Greektown on Wednesday when he saw a hand slide his wallet from the restaurant table and a tall figure bolt for the door. Jumping from his chair to give chase wasn't exactly the lawyerly thing to do, but Fresard, 54, was quickly joined by other unlikely pursuers.

Bernard Youngblood, 61, the Wayne County registrar of deeds, jumped up from a table nearby. The saxophone player on the corner of Beaubien and Monroe, David "Bosco" Willis, tucked the horn underarm and also joined the chase.

Employees of Fishbones and a cadre of Detroit police and Wayne County Sheriff's deputies ended the pursuit.

"The guy coming around the corner (was) yelling, 'Get him! He took my wallet.' I'm on it because I'm tired of this," said Willis, a 36-year-old laid-off Detroit Public Schools janitor who also plays for donations in the summer outside Comerica Park. "People have tried to steal the change from my box, the sunglasses off my face. I'm tired of people in our town being put upon."

Youngblood said he and Fresard, husband of Wayne Circuit Judge Patricia Fresard, had worked together in 2005 to create a mortgage and deed fraud taskforce.

"I ran after them because I didn't want Donn to be out there alone, but it turns out Greektown is not the place to commit a crime," Youngblood said.

The entertainment district is almost surrounded by law enforcement facilities, including the headquarters of the Detroit Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, the Wayne County Jail and juvenile facilities, and multiple government offices including the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

"I kept thinking my hunting license is in there," said Fresard who is preparing for a trip next week to a snow goose hunt in South Dakota.

"I was actually catching up to him because his baggy pants kept falling down."

The 14-year-old suspect made a wrong turn exiting the restaurant, doubling back in front of another exit where Fishbones employees blocked his path.

"A Detroit Police cruiser burned rubber to back down the street when they saw the chase coming at them," Fresard said.

Willis said a man ahead of him tackled the suspect, "like a football player. I'm sitting on top of the kid and turn around and, whoa! There are police with guns drawn."

As the officers handcuffed the youth, Fresard said they asked him:

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know there's probably more police in Greektown than at Somerset (the fashionable shopping center in Troy)?"

The suspect denied taking the wallet.

Fishbones employees found it discarded nearby, contents intact.

The youth later was released to the custody of a parent. Juvenile charges are being considered, said Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor's Office.

On the way to his office, Fresard said he thanked the sax-playing Willis, dropping a $10 bill in his instrument case.

"I just hope this poor kid gets handled in a way that he realizes this is no way to live," Fresard said.

http://detnews.com/article/20110318/METR...f#ixzz1GyTHsl5U

Whitmore Lake— A Whitmore Lake man died and a child believed to be his daughter remained at University Hospital in Ann Arbor on Sunday after falling overboard from a small aluminum boat.

The 2-year-old girl suffered "serious and life-threatening injuries" in the incident, called in about 10:54 a.m., Green Oak Township Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Gentry said.

Both were rushed unconscious to the hospital after being in the bone-chilling water, estimated at 41 degrees. Rescuers, including a couple who took a boat to get to the girl, were able to pull them from the lake, near U.S. 23 about 10 miles north of Ann Arbor.

The couple pulled the girl from the water after she had been immersed for about 20 minutes, police said.

The township Police and Fire departments, Northfield Township Fire and Livingston County Sheriff's deputies located the man about 12:08 p.m.

"They both were in pretty bad shape," said Gentry. "The girl was wearing a life jacket, which kept her on top of the water, but the water was so cold she suffered exposure and hypothermia. He was underwater for some time before he was spotted about 10 feet below the surface. It took divers to pull him out."

Gentry said firefighters and police both responded to "multiple" 911 calls about a 12-foot aluminum boat spinning out of control on Whitmore Lake and people spotted in the water, including a small child.

One of the first to call, David Hammerschmidt, lives across Main Street along the north shore....

http://detnews.com/article/20110404/METRO/104040327/Boat-ride-turns-to-icy-tragedy#ixzz1Ia5NHnVX

Birmingham neighbors up in arms over plans for 'extreme' home
Mike Wilkinson / The Detroit News

Birmingham — Linda Dresner is a purveyor of style well-known in the fashion centers of Europe and Manhattan. Her eponymous Birmingham boutique commands attention — and sometimes a small fortune — for its clothes from world-famous designers.

But Dresner, who can count socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, actress Scarlett Johansson and the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis among her customers, is facing questions about her taste. Not about her store's wares, but on the multimillion-dollar concrete cube home she wants to build in Birmingham.

It is stark.

Minimalist.

Modern.

"Silent," the home's architect, Steven Sivak, calls it.

And controversial.

"It's so extreme that we could not approve it," said James Mirro, a neighbor who has tried, unsuccessfully, to block the 7,200-square-foot home with poured concrete walls, calling it incompatible with a neighborhood filled with more traditional homes made of wood, brick and stone.

In a not-so-neighborly battle over sensibilities and aesthetics, a famous fashion maven was pitted against a collection of the well-to-do worried about the future of their neighborhood. It was a battle waged over e-mails, neighborhood chats and, ultimately, in the courts.

But beauty, in this case, will be in the eye of the building permit holder. That would be Dresner, renowned in the fashion world for — not surprisingly — embracing a minimalist vibe in her approach to high-fashion retail at her store on Maple Road in Birmingham. She was doing it long before it became de rigueur in Manhattan.

"I cannot tell you how groundbreaking it was in the fashion world," said Cathy Horyn, fashion critic for the New York Times. She met Dresner in the late 1980s when Horyn was the fashion writer for The Detroit News. "She's been a trailblazer in fashion and in the way fashion is sold."

Soon, Dresner Properties LLC, the official owner of the land, is expected to get the necessary approval to demolish the last home standing on the two lots on Shirley Road in the Birmingham neighborhood of Coryell Park. It paid more than $1.5 million for two existing homes. A city official said he expects to issue a building permit for the new construction shortly. By summer's end, Dresner and her husband Ed Levy, president of a private construction materials company, will likely have their home.

"Where I am, at this point, is: 'I can get used to it,'" next-door-neighbor Bruce Van Voorhis, a retired Ford product development manager said last week. He admits it will take time, though: the wall of the Dresner home facing his property will run roughly 100 feet and have just four windows. "It's starkly different than the rest of the neighborhood."
'Big, white, giant ice cube'

Complete Article

I simply can't believe this. A man was beaten after a Dodgers game BECAUSE he had a Giants jacket on. They are looking for the perpetrators who were wearing Dodger jackets. I can't F-ing believe it.

Although this happened Friday, I really didn't pay too much attention til this morning when I heard on the radio how serious it was. Evidently the victim is in the hospital with brain damage and in an induced coma. They are taking up collections for the family. To add to the story, they say that the getaway car had a woman and approximately a 10 year old child in it. The radio encouraged the woman to call the station (if she didn't want or dare to call the police) and give them info.

Has it really come to this? I mean, Really? It is pathetic. I feel so badly for the victim and family.


TIS


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/20...-be-factor.html

A rare about face for Bloomberg. This woman had no background in education whatsoever. A disgrace.

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black To Be Replaced

By: NY1 News

After just three months at the helm, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black is stepping down and will be replaced by Deputy Mayor and former Board of Education president Dennis Walcott.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the announcement at a morning press conference at City Hall.

The mayor says he's disappointed Black's appointment didn't work out, but that the two agreed the issue had been a distraction for the city's school system.

"She loves New York and wants to do what's right for the families and students that we serve," said Bloomberg. "She and I met this morning and we have mutually agreed that it is in the city's best interests if she steps down as chancellor. I take full responsibility for the fact that this has not worked out as either of us had hoped or expected."

Black was appointed late last year and took over when Joel Klein stepped down in January.

A recent NY1/Marist poll showed just 17 percent of voters surveyed said Black is doing an excellent or a good job.

Since her tenure began, the former Hearst Magazines chairwoman has taken heat for her lack of education credentials.

The news comes just one day after another high-profile member of the Department of Education -- Deputy Chancellor John White -- announced he was leaving.

Walcott's appointment still needs approval from the state

The mayor says he's spoken with state officials and expects a waiver to be granted quickly.

I'm surprised nobody brought this up before. Stuff like this makes my skin crawl.... we've had a few similar incidents in the northeast U.S. with Yankees and Red Sox fans. Simply sickening.

Another story just breaking out of Santa Monica, CA. Evidently there was an explosion (pipe bomb) at or by a synagogue. I hope and pray this isn't the start of string of hate crimes.



TIS

I saw that article in the NYT PB. It would have been funny if there weren't so much at stake. But her inappropriate jokes, the fact that her staff didn't seem to like or trust her and her general lack of authority reminded me of more than a few "figurehead" bosses I've had over the years. Usually they are allowed to just be the face up front while the real work is done by subordinates. Then after a short period of time to allow them to save face they are reassigned to some job where they don't report to anyone, have any team or any responsibilities...

"Oh you're resigning? We'll be SO SORRY to see you leave.."

Dennis Coffey
Another unsung hero though he's starting to get a bit more recognition...and royalties.

MARTIN BANDYKE, FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
A seriously gifted guitarist with an instantly recognizable style, Funk Brother Dennis Coffey will receive major kudos Friday night at the 20th annual Detroit Music Awards. Best-known for the psychedelic riffs he brought to late-Detroit-era Motown hits for artists like the Supremes and Temptations, Coffey will receive a Distinguished Achievement award at the event, which takes place at the Fillmore Detroit. Other distinguished honorees are radio station WRIF-FM (101.1), rappers Insane Clown Posse and polka-parodists the Polish Muslims.

Coffey's signature use of distortion, echo and wah-wah effects is memorably heard on Motown hits like "Ball of Confusion" and "Cloud Nine," and his incendiary 1971 instrumental "Scorpio" was also a best-seller. The DMA recognition represents some particularly sweet timing for Coffey, who is releasing a new, self-titled album on April 26 that features guest vocalists Mayer Hawthorne, the Dirtbombs' Mick Collins and others.

(Hawthorne is also expected to join Coffey and his band on stage at the Fillmore on Friday.)

Coffey talked to the Free Press about his recent burst of activity, the new album, some Motown memories and more:
...

The worst part is, after she was fired she had the nerve to scream sexism. Now my wife is the biggest feminist I know and a very strong woman. Black's crying sexism so infuriated her that she sent a two page op-ed piece to the NY Post blasting White's comments. I'll let you know if they publish it.

I didn't know Black said it was a sexist situation. Seems unlikely since from what I know from afar people were saying it was more cronyism that got her hired in the first place.

Hope they do publish Mrs. PB's op-ed!

The great (or grate) state of New Joisey uncovers more government "crap" as Gov Christie calls it. It seems the state pays employees $700 a year for clothing allowance-no receipt required. $3 mil total. These people are not required to where uniforms or have special safety-related clothing. Just plain-old-going-to-the-office folks. These are union members. This benefit was part of collective bargaining.

I hope you guys don't have to pay for Christie's wardrobe. If you had to pay for his clothing by the yard, the state would go broke.

And yet most retail stores require a "uniform" of some sort and don't reimburse employees for it. Both Target and Toys R Us require red polos and khakis, while my daughter worked at a summer camp and had to wear a T-Shirt with the camp logo every day. The camp supplied one, and any more had to be purchased. She also once worked at Creative Playthings, and was required to buy their polo shirts to wear.

Housing market rebound for wealthy?

SE Michigan Housing Market

Buyers found million-dollar discounts last year in metro Detroit's high-end housing market, where the top 10 home sale prices ranged from $2.2 million to $4.8 million.

But those bargains aren't likely to be repeated this year: Sparse inventory can't satisfy growing demand for the best addresses, brought on by a resurgent auto industry, local real estate professionals say.

"These big deals that went down won't happen again," said John Kucish, a real estate agent with Re/Max Classic in Farmington Hills, who sold a sprawling seven-bedroom home in West Bloomfield last year for $2.6 million. "I won't be able to deliver a 16,000-square-foot house on Orchard Lake on two acres again for that price. No way."

Talk about bad luck I was JUST about to put down $2.6 million on a house too....

Lilo,

What's this I hear about all teachers in Detroit getting layoff notices? Worse yet, the Governor (what's his name?? Synder aka Asshole?) can simply take over a city?


TIS

Hey TIS. As everyone likes to say (when it's their side that won ) "elections have consequences".

It's not just Detroit teachers that could be impacted though they will be the most affected. Basically b/c of a host of reasons I don't want to get into now, Detroit's population has shrunk drastically over the past half-century and there are arguably too many teachers for the numbers of public schools in Detroit. The school system is also operating at a deficit. This means school closings and teacher layoffs. Detroit's school board is currently under state financial control so its ability to fight back against such things is rather limited. The chop is coming.

In addition to the specific Detroit issues, the new Governor, Rick Snyder wants to decrease budgeted state school funding across the board, which will lead to some more teacher layoffs across the state, though not as bad as could happen in Detroit.

The Emergency Manager law was updated by Snyder and the Republican state House and Senate majorities to allow for quicker appointment of emergency managers and increased powers of such managers to limit/eliminate the duties of elected officials and to throw out collective bargaining contracts, which I suspect was the real issue for Snyder and like minded supporters.

Read more here:
http://detnews.com/article/20110416/POLI...arbor-officials

Again, people voted so that's that.

I consider myself a New York City liberal, but even I think this is stretching the limits of the First Amendment. Libraries are for children.

City libraries say 'checking out' porn protected by First Amendment

By DOUGLAS MONTERO and BOB FREDERICKS, NY Post

Shakespeare's plays, Einstein's theories -- and porn queen Jenna Jameson's steamy online sexcapades.

New Yorkers can take their pick at the city's public libraries, thanks to a policy that gives adults the most uncensored access to extreme, hard-core Internet smut this side of the old Times Square.

The electronic smut falls under the heading of free speech and the protection of the First Amendment, library officials say.

"Customers can watch whatever they want on the computer," said Brooklyn Public Library spokeswoman Malika Granville, describing the anything-goes philosophy that's the rule at the city's 200-plus branches.

And that has religious leaders and library patrons -- even some librarians -- hotter than an XXX flick.

"What they're doing is publicly funding an appetite for the most debased fare available," said Catholic League President Bill Donohue. "It's not like a Playboy centerfold anymore -- it's far worse."

Library patron Daisy Nazario, 60, said she was grossed out when she discovered she was sitting next to an elderly porn watcher in the Brooklyn Central Library recently.

The looker was using library-provided extensions on the sides of his computer to block the view of his screen -- which was featuring a threesome at the time -- "but I could still hear the voices," a disgusted Nazario said.

"It is very disrespectful to the children."

Approached by The Post, the dirty old man skulked away, saying, "I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone."

Under US law, all libraries that take federal funding only must install filters on publicly used computers to block content containing illegal obscenity and child pornography, and New York City officials say they comply to the letter.

If localities want to further restrict viewing, they must specifically enact a policy, although the move almost certainly brings with it legal challenges.

But even with the filters, anyone 17 or older can turn them off and troll for whatever sexual content floats their boat -- no matter how deviant.

"The library cannot and does not guarantee that the filtering software will block all obscenity, child pornography or materials that are harmful to minors," the policy says.

Library officials and civil libertarians say it's a free-speech issue.

"In deference to the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech, the New York Public Library cannot prevent adult patrons from accessing adult content that is legal," said New York Public Library spokeswoman Angela Montefinise.

douglas.montero@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/porn_ok_at_city_libraries_hSqZExlZstWZIzeNX47VCM#ixzz1KYc7sdcy

I don't think there's a school district in the US that isn't facing some of the same issues. While most of the losses in our local school district have been through attrition, that still means the districts are getting by with less. NYC is a whole different ballgame, however, where the layoffs are forecast to be in the thousands.

Lilo,

I saw a brief story on the dilemma in Benton Harbor, which they say is one of the poorest areas (along with maybe Flint???) According to that story they had plans to make a luxurious Golf/Resort area there????

They showed part of a town hall type meet with many many angry people.




TIS

I think Benton Harbor is just about the poorest place in the whole state.

This is from Lilo's neck of the woods...Sterling Heights,MI

Apparently a group of older women they call the "Mad Hatters" because they all wear hats, have been robbing/pickpocketing women shoppers. They've stolen purses/credit cards, etc and have charged up as much at $500,000. They aren't sure if these ladies are all connected but I mean....come on. I wonder who thought this up. You're having your weekly bridge game and say, "hey, let's rob shoppers?"

Lilo, you're not moonlighting as an old lady are you?


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...eting_ring.html

All I ask is that they let me wet my beak, TIS...a small token of respect...

I knew it was you, Lilo.

Hoedown Time

We've come a long way from the 1983 festival described by the Free Press as "an extravaganza of nonstop country and bluegrass music, square dancing, banjo picking and yodeling."

Twenty-eight years after that inaugural Downtown Hoedown, the annual event has become a Detroit institution, reliably packing the 50,000-capacity Hart Plaza with curiosity seekers and committed country fans.

But it won't be Tanya Tucker and Mel Tillis atop the bill this time: Reflecting the evolution that has transformed country music from Americana into big-time American entertainment, this weekend's Hoedown will pulse with the beat of pop, rock and even a touch of hip-hop, as a new generation of Nashville hit-makers takes the stage.

Headliners Joe Nichols, Josh Gracin and Jason Aldean lead a cast of 27 main-stage artists, while about 20 local acts will play during daylight hours at the secondary riverside stage. And the good news for old-school fans: You'll still find some traditional country sounds in the mix.

Westland native Josh Gracin puts a Motown spin on his new record.
It's been a while since he had a Michigan address. But you'd better believe that Josh Gracin still has plenty of Detroit fire running through his veins.

Fans at his Hoedown headlining show Saturday night will hear his live rendition of the record's first single, "Long Way to Go," which will be released by Memorial Day. It's a change of pace for Gracin, a rhythmic summer tune that will get pushed not to country radio, but to pop.

" 'Michigan music' is what I call it," he says. "I grew up listening to Motown and R&B -- that's how I learned to sing. It wasn't until 13 that I got into country. This album has a lot of Motown-flavored melodies and movements, and this is a real grooving, windows-down kind of single." ...

Three day techno festival in Detroit draws record crowd.
Movement

A soggy crowd of 34,820 toughed out the rain on Saturday to bring Movement its biggest single day since becoming a paid event, according to organizers.
That puts the fest, now in its 12th year, on pace to eclipse the 100,000 attendance figure for the weekend. Last year's festival drew around 95,000 to Hart Plaza for the three day techno festival, which itself marked a 15 percent increase over the year previous.
Organizers credit awareness of the festival, and the fact that it's become ingrained in fans' consciousness that Memorial Day weekend means Movement in Detroit. "The brand continues to grow globally," said James Canning, the fest's spokesperson. "The crowd plans their year around it."
Saturday's highlight came in the form of the pounding set from Skrillex, the Los Angeles dubstep DJ who whipped the crowd into a frenzy and kept them there for the entirety of his hour-long closing set on the Red Bull Music Academy stage. The crowd jammed the area in front of the stage so tightly that Skrillex had to stop his set midway through to ask people to take a step back.
When he continued, the crowd reacted with an insanity unseen since Girl Talk played the same stage in 2008.
"It was awesome," said Skrillex -- real name Sonny Moore -- following his set. He said he was nervous how his music would go over at a festival with its purest roots in techno music, but was more than pleased with how the set turned out. He even stage dove at the end of his performance.
Skrillex was preceded on the Red Bull stage by Goldie, a UK-based drum and bass artist whose work dates back to the early 1990s. Goldie stayed on stage while Skrillex played and nodded along in approval -- a passing of the torch, in a sense, from one generation to the next.
"He's driving the machine now," Goldie said of Skrillex, following his performance. Skrillex even shouted out Goldie from the stage, saying without him he wouldn't be doing what he's doing today. Goldie said he was honored by the mention...