Saturday, August 30, 2003

FBI agent shoots at lobster in hotel cooler  

An FBI agent who fired two rounds into a walk-in cooler at a Strip hotel in May has paid the Barbary Coast $12,517 for the damage and paid a $105 fine after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge, authorities said.

John Hanson III still faces investigation by his agency, said Special Agent Todd Palmer, spokesman for the FBI Las Vegas office.

Police reports indicate that Hanson, who was in Las Vegas to attend an accounting seminar, was caught on surveillance cameras firing his .45-caliber handgun into the walk-in cooler. No one was inside at the time, although there was a lobster.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2003/aug/29/515541976.html

Best Defense:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view.php?id=59593

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 AM
matt@lefande.com

Friday, August 29, 2003

FBI to Arrest Teen In Virus Attack  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified a teenager as the alleged author of the damaging Blaster worm unleashed on the Internet and plans to arrest him early Friday, a U.S. official confirmed Thursday.

The 18-year-old, whose name and hometown weren't available, was accused of writing one version of the Blaster infection, which spread quickly across the Internet weeks ago, the official said.

Further details were expected to be disclosed Friday by the FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Seattle, which has been leading the investigation. A news conference was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle said there had been "no arrest made in this matter yet." He declined to comment further.

A witness reportedly saw the teen testing the Blaster worm and called authorities, the official said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106212549173210600,00.html?mod=dartEuromngtoday

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:02 AM
matt@lefande.com

Armed citizen of the week  

A blind man reportedly shot at two men trying to rob him Tuesday night.

Police said a blind man who lives at the St. Clements Manor in Inkster, an apartment complex for the disabled, opened fire on two men who were trying to assault and rob him. One of the suspects was shot in the chest, Local 4 reported.

The two suspected robbers then jumped through the apartment window, the station learned.

The wounded suspect was listed in critical condition at the University of Michigan Hospital. The second man was taken into custody.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2436236/detail.html

http://www.nederpoparchief.nl/bluesbrothers/youngboy.wav

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:52 AM
matt@lefande.com

Thursday, August 28, 2003

L.A. police to get Glocks  

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police here will soon be able to carry the Glock pistol.

The Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday approved the new weapons, which are already used in some specialized divisions.

"Quite frankly, it's just a much better weapon," than the standard-issue Beretta 9 mm, said Chief William Bratton during a hearing before the five-member civilian panel that oversees department policy.

About 70 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies use Glocks, including the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Bratton, who headed the New York Police Department when it switched to Glocks in the 1990s, said the Beretta gun gave him blisters during his academy training in Los Angeles.

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/7303585p-8248133c.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 2:48 PM
matt@lefande.com

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Matmobile narrowly avoids disaster yesterday  

The Matmobile, the DC area's most state-of-the-art law enforcement motor vehicle was almost destroyed by a falling tree during yesterday's fierce storms.

The Matmobile was in a legal parking space (really) in the 1000 block of 16th Street NW when a seven story tree came crashing down crushing two cars behind it. Evening rush hour traffic was snarled as the tree blocked the entire street except for one northbound lane.

http://www.lefande.com/matmobiletree.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:27 AM
matt@lefande.com

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Police Search for Colleague on the Loose  

D.C. police are looking for an officer who disappeared in Montgomery County yesterday.

They have asked the public to be on the lookout for the rookie, who weighs 75 pounds, has callused elbows, is wearing a silver chain around his neck and is dark brown. Jack, a 4-year-old chocolate Labrador, was last seen at 6 a.m. in the 1100 block of Lake Breeze Court in North Potomac. He ran away from his handler's home and hasn't been seen since, police said.

An officer said Jack is friendly and will approach most people, "especially if they have drugs." He is a narcotics dog, trained to sniff out a variety of drugs. Police ask anyone who has seen Jack to call the D.C. department at 202-727-4641 or 202-727-9099 or Montgomery police at 301-279-8000.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45200-2003Aug25.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 10:41 PM
matt@lefande.com

Simpson: Cash Helped Murder Acquittal  

O.J. Simpson says that without the money to pay for a "dream team" of lawyers, he would not have been acquitted of murder charges.

In an interview with Playboy magazine nine years after his trial, Simpson repeatedly vowed he was innocent of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

"I didn't commit the crime. That is why I got off," he said. "I feel in my heart that I got off because I was innocent. But I don't know if I could have proven my innocence if I didn't have the money. And that's a shame. Yes, it is a shame that in this country it costs so much to get good representation."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/6613495.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:21 AM
matt@lefande.com

Monday, August 25, 2003

Report: Crime rate lowest since 1973  

Violent and property crimes dipped in 2002 to their lowest levels since records started being compiled 30 years ago, and have dropped more than 50 percent in the last decade, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

The annual survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics identified about 23 million crime victims last year, down slightly from the year before and far below the 44 million recorded when studies began in 1973.

The rate of violent crimes -- rapes, robberies and assaults -- was about 23 victims for every 1,000 U.S. residents 12 or older last year. That compares with 25 victims per 1,000 in 2001 and 50 in 1993.

For property crimes such as burglary and car theft, the rate was 159 crimes per 1,000 last year, down from 167 the previous year and 319 in 1993.

The study examined property and violent crimes except murder, which is measured separately by the FBI. Preliminary FBI statistics for 2002 released in June -- based on reports from police across the country -- reported a 0.8 percentage point rise in the murder rate compared with 2001.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/24/crime.rate.ap/index.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:11 AM
matt@lefande.com

Sunday, August 24, 2003

FBI warns of al Qaeda plot to fly jetliner into building  

The FBI has uncovered intelligence that al Qaeda terrorists are plotting to hijack a plane in Britain over the next two months and fly it into a major building, informed sources said yesterday.

The most likely targets are planes taking off from Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London, the sources said.

The FBI and the U.S. Department for Homeland Security circulated a warning to U.S. and British airlines on July 30, saying that terrorists working in teams of five were likely to try to hijack planes using "common items carried by travelers," such as cameras, to disguise weapons.

During the hijack they intend to tell passengers that it is an old-style hijacking and ransom operation, not a suicide mission, in order to prevent any heroic attack by passengers, such as the one that brought down a hijacked plane on September 11, 2001, in Pennsylvania, before it could reach its target — thought to be the White House.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20030823-112756-6187r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:22 AM
matt@lefande.com

Saturday, August 23, 2003

$153,000 Award in Suit Against D.C. Police  

D.C. police arrested and maliciously prosecuted the wrong man for a brutal robbery in 2001, a federal jury found yesterday, and it awarded the Woodbridge man and his wife $153,000 in damages.

After an eight-day trial, the jury agreed on almost every claim made by Christopher G. Pitt, an embassy courier who sued the D.C. police and three officers in federal court after he was stopped on the Taft Bridge and arrested Jan. 2, 2001. One of the robbery victims testified that she had told police that Pitt was not her attacker when police took her to identify their suspect.

The eight-member jury ordered that the D.C. government pay Pitt $100,000 as compensation for his suffering, that it pay his wife $50,000 as compensation, and that each of the officers -- Bryan C. Adams, Steven Baxter and Detective James T. Bovino -- pay $1,000 in punitive damages.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34241-2003Aug22.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:50 AM
matt@lefande.com

Friday, August 22, 2003

America needs more spies  

Our collective experience makes it absolutely clear that the only way to uncover and destroy terrorist activity is to penetrate the organisations engaged in it. And the best way to do this is to place spies in their innermost councils. Except in movies and novels, Americans do not like spies, especially within the United States; but we have used them successfully in the past and, if we are to succeed in the war against terrorism, we need to again. The question is: who does it, and who controls it?

President Bush recently announced a new initiative, the Terrorist Threat Integration Centre. It is an important step in the right direction. The TTIC is run by the director of the CIA and constitutes a bridge between domestic law enforcement and national intelligence. The counter-terrorism organisations of CIA and FBI headquarters, as well as elements of the Departments of Homeland Security and Defence, will be co-located along with 200 or more analysts, all with unfettered access to all relevant data held by those organisations. The TTIC will prepare intelligence reports for policymakers and will also determine what new information is needed.

While we believe the TTIC is a good idea, it fails to address four key issues. First, it will fail to create “more dots”. We must generate more actionable intelligence on hostile organisations operating within the United States and abroad.

Second, in particular, the TTIC fails to deal with the crucial question of intelligence collection within America. Currently that task falls to the FBI, but the bureau has been ineffective in this role for many years. Why this is so is a complex issue. Each of us would apportion responsibility differently—some to the congressional investigations and mandates imposed in the 1970s in the wake of earlier intelligence abuses, others to the fact that the FBI has become overwhelmingly a law-enforcement agency in which intelligence functions have been neglected, and where success is measured by traditional enforcement standards of arrests, convictions, fines, savings, recoveries.

Law enforcement, as compared with intelligence collection, is neither designed nor intended to acquire information on the nature, extent and specifics of a threat to national security. Put another way, intelligence, as opposed to law enforcement, must determine where the danger lies. Law enforcement acquires such information only as an incidental by-product. Others of our group would say that the main problem is that the 20% of the FBI which is dedicated to national-security issues, including terrorism, has lacked sufficient analytical and automation support to put together realistic threat analysis, and also does not have sufficient functional connection to the overall intelligence priorities of the director of the CIA.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1907776

posted by Matthew LeFande 1:02 PM
matt@lefande.com

Unexplained Beer Injury  

THE doctor purses his lips, looks at you pityingly over his half-moon spectacles and quietly writes something on his clipboard, something short, sharp and authoritative.

He has written: "Plumbum oscillans."

What disease can this be? It sounds contagious... maybe even fatal... Is it time to phone friends and family and say farewell? Is your will up to date?

Relax.

Plumbum oscillans is no threat to health - it is Latin for "swinging the lead," and it is the doctor's discreet way of concluding that you are a malingerer, someone seeking a sick note to take time off work.

These and other terms are part of a secret language, indecipherable to outsiders, that doctors use with each other to convey a truth that is otherwise unsayable, especially to the patient.

They include British emergency-room acronyms such as UBI (for "Unexplained Beer Injury"), PAFO ("Pissed And Fell Over") and ATFO ("Asked To F... Off"), not to mention Code Brown, referring to a faecal incontinence emergency.

Then there is DBI, for "Dirtbag Index." This is a formula which multiplies the number of tattoos on the patient's body by the number of missing teeth to estimate the total of days he has gone without a bath.

Relatives of patients on the critical list may blanche if they knew what CTD, GPO or Rule of Five mean on their loved-one's records.

The first means "Circling The Drain", the second signifies "Good for Parts Only" and "Rule of Five" means that if more than five of the patient's orifices are obscured by tubing, he has no chance.

A patient who is "giving the O-sign" is very sick, lying with his mouth open. This is followed by the "Q-sign" -- when the tongue hangs out of the mouth -- when the patient becomes terminal.

General practitioners may use LOBNH ("Lights On But Nobody Home") or the impressively bogus Oligoneuronal to mean someone who is thick.

http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7031676^13762,00.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 12:55 PM
matt@lefande.com

Armed Citizen of the Week  

William "Don" Strickland takes his small-caliber handgun wherever he goes, just in case any criminals cross his path.

On Thursday, the former iron worker on permanent disability used it -- when he saw a young woman being robbed at an ATM and the robber trying to get away.

First Strickland shot the tires of the getaway car; then he shot the man inside once in the right leg.

The robber escaped, but soon Clayton police arrested Morris Levi Stith of Clayton after Stith checked into Johnston Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right leg. Stith was charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, Clayton police said. Strickland probably will not be charged.

Stith complained about being shot as he hobbled into the magistrate's office in downtown Clayton with a police escort Thursday afternoon. "It's wrong, man," he said.

http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/2778042p-2574281c.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:39 AM
matt@lefande.com

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Ramsey Calls For Major Changes  

D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey plans to implement a so-called "crime emergency" soon as the city deals with a rash of shootings in recent weeks, the department's public information office said Thursday.

Under a crime emergency, the police department can suspend certain union rules, including the 14-day notice to change schedules.

The status gives the police chief and district commanders flexibility to come up with crime fighting solutions. The special status will be in effect until Oct. 1.

Since the start of July, Washington has seen a number of shootings, many which resulted in deaths.

In the most recent violence, two transgender men were shot in separate attacks Wednesday night. One of them died while the other is hospitalized.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/2422876/detail.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 6:04 PM
matt@lefande.com

City traffic agents were too busy writing tickets to direct traffic during NYC blackout  

While some city workers struggled to protect New Yorkers in the midst of the blackout, a city traffic agent wrote summonses even as private citizens directed traffic at a busy intersection yards away.

About a half-hour into Thursday's power outage, Dr. Robert Richter and two other New Yorkers took it upon themselves to ease the traffic jam at West 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

Then, 15 minutes later, an NYPD traffic-enforcement car rolled up, but instead of directing traffic, the agent tagged a pair of cars on West 79th Street, Richter said.

"When I saw the flashing lights and the cars pull up, I said, 'Oh, relief is here,' " Richter told The Post. "Then they got out of the car and started writing tickets.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/3675.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 AM
matt@lefande.com

Cadaver-dog handler charged with rigging evidence searches  

A Michigan woman who gained national prominence for finding bodies during law enforcement searches throughout the United States and Panama has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges she planted the human remains her dog eventually located in the searches.

Justice Department officials in Washington yesterday said Sandra Marie Anderson, a cadaver-dog handler from Midland, Mich., was named in a 10-count indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Mrs. Anderson is charged with falsifying and concealing material facts from federal law enforcement officials, obstruction of justice and lying to law enforcement officials in her efforts to cover up evidence in a federal investigation of her conduct.

The indictment said Mrs. Anderson, director of the Great Lakes Search and Rescue Team of Michigan K-9 Unit, planted human remains and fiber evidence during searches with her dog, Eagle, at the Huron National Forest search in northern Michigan on April 17 and 18, 2002, as well as human remains during a search in the Proud Lake Recreation Center, also in northern Michigan, on Jan. 4, 2002.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030820-104817-8300r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:26 AM
matt@lefande.com

Tampa cops end camera program  

A Florida police department is scrapping a program of high-tech, facial-recognition cameras after it failed to produce any arrests.

The two-year test program produced "zip," said Capt. Bob Guidara, spokesman for the Tampa Police Department.

"There was not one identification or an arrest attributable to the software package," he said.

The cameras were used at the 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa to scour the crowds for wanted criminals and were picked up later that year for use in the night-life district of Ybor City.

The technology is designed to identify humans using biometrics as they pass through the camera's field of view, and to monitor the specific areas in real time. Pictures captured by the camera are compared with a database of more than 30,000 mug shots of wanted criminals.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030820-112710-6306r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:23 AM
matt@lefande.com

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Man Fatally Shot in Struggle With D.C. Police Officer  

A man was shot and killed late last night in a struggle with a D.C. police officer in the Shaw neighborhood of Northwest Washington, police said.

Police said that the officer was injured and that he was taken to a hospital after the confrontation in the 800 block of T Street NW, which occurred about 11 p.m.

The struggle came after the officer pursued the man on foot, according to police. The officer, who was not identified immediately, is assigned to the Third Police District and was on patrol there when the chase began, police said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18189-2003Aug20.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:58 AM
matt@lefande.com

Monday, August 18, 2003

Army Brigade Adds Frontier Standard — the Tomahawk — to Its ‘Bag of Tricks’  

Modern versions of the frontier tomahawk have been quietly finding their way into the hands of members of the U.S. armed forces for a couple of years now. But now it's one step closer to becoming a standard-issue item.

Beginning this month, the newly formed Stryker Brigade Combat Team will begin begin equipping infantry squads with "breach kits" (used to clear obstacles and force entry into buildings) that will each include a tomahawk.

And according to at least one member of this new team, the tomahawks have been a welcome addition.

"[This] tomahawk has allowed us to do stuff in the breaching arena that the Leatherman [multitool] allowed us to do early on when we got the Leatherman. It's kind of a do-everything little widget, if you will," said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Myhre.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WorldNewsTonight/tomahawk_030818.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:45 PM
matt@lefande.com

Al-Qaida claims responsibility for power blackout?  

Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the worst blackout in U.S. history which affected 50 million residents across the Northeast and Midwest as well as parts of southern Canada, according to the Arab paper Al-Hayat.

The London daily printed a communiqué attributed to the terror network that stated the "brigades of Abu Fahes Al Masri" had hit two main power plants supplying major industrial cities in the U.S. and Canada, "its ally in the war against Islam and their neighbors."

The statement assured the "operation was carried out on the orders of Osama bin Laden to hit the pillars of the U.S. economy."

The statement first appeared on the website of the Arabic on-line group Global Islamic Media, which has published al-Qaida statements in the past.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34156

posted by Matthew LeFande 5:05 PM
matt@lefande.com

Police seek black pickup in possible sniper shootings  

West Virginia police said Sunday they were looking for a black pickup truck that may be linked to three fatal shootings outside convenience stores in the Charleston area over the past week.

The targets of the shootings appear to have been selected at random by the same shooter, police said, raising fears of sniper attacks similar to those that terrorized the Washington area last year.

Each of the victims was killed by a single shot, late at night, and the slugs taken from two of the victims have the same characteristics, police said.

"It is our belief the shooter made the shot from inside the truck, due to the fact that, immediately after the shot, the truck sped away, with tires spinning," said Kanawha County Sheriff's Department Chief Phil Morris.

No shell casings were found -- leading police to believe they are hunting an unseen killer who fires from inside a dark pickup with tinted glass.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/08/18/w.va.shootings/index.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:43 AM
matt@lefande.com

Wireless Growth Hinders Rescuers  

The explosive growth of the mobile phone industry has crowded and tangled the nation's airwaves to such an extent that wireless company signals are increasingly interfering with emergency radio frequencies used by police and firefighters, public safety agencies said.

Emergency departments across the country -- including some in the District, Maryland and Virginia -- report unsettling stories of officers who can't call for backup, dispatchers who can't relay suspect descriptions and firefighters who can't request ambulances because of radio "dead spots" believed to be caused by wireless phone interference.

The issue has its roots in the 1970s, well before the popularity of mobile phones, when the FCC assigned channels in the 800 megahertz band to public safety departments. In the 1980s, wireless companies began to acquire, with federal approval, space adjacent to the emergency radio frequencies. Soon, the wireless phone industry started to grow. Last year, there were an estimated 140 million wireless phone subscribers, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association said.

An increasing number of public safety agencies moved into the 800 megahertz band as well, and as the agencies and wireless companies occupied more spectrum space, airwave conflicts intensified.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7270-2003Aug17.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:31 AM
matt@lefande.com

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Court: Fake checkpoints OK  

Colorado police can set up fake checkpoints in hopes of sniffing out illegal drugs, an appeals court ruled in a case where camouflage-clad officers spied on fans during a bluegrass festival in 2000.

Thursday's ruling, which reversed an earlier finding, was based on a federal appeals court decision last year in a similar case in Oklahoma.

Police at the Telluride festival had posted signs along the road saying, "Narcotics checkpoint, one mile ahead" and "Narcotics canine ahead." Officers wearing camouflage hid on a hill and watched for any people who turned around or appeared to toss drugs out of their windows after seeing the signs.

In the Oklahoma case, Mack Flynn saw checkpoint warning signs in Muskogee County, quickly got off the interstate and dropped a large sack by the roadside. The 10th Circuit agreed with his lawyers that checkpoints are illegal but ultimately ruled against him because there really weren't any checkpoints.

"The posting of signs to create a ruse does not constitute illegal police activity," that court said.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/15/fake.checkpoints.ap/index.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:10 AM
matt@lefande.com

Friday, August 15, 2003

Sniper-Style Shootings Reported In W. Va.  

There have been three fatal shootings outside convenience stores in Kanawha County, W.Va, within four days.

At about 10:20 p.m. Thursday a woman was shot while pumping gas at a SuperAmerica store in Campbells Creek, W.Va., WVIT-TV reported. The second fatal shooting happened a little more than an hour later and 10 miles away outside a Go-Mart in Cedar Grove, W.Va., on U.S. Route 60.

Kanawha County sheriff's spokesman Lt. J.S. Bailes said the shootings appear to be random.

Sunday night, 34-year-old George Carrier of South Charleston, W.Va., was shot in the head and killed while using a pay telephone outside a Charleston Go-Mart.

Police across the area have been alerted to increase patrols around stores with gas pumps. They are looking for a black pickup truck with gold trim seen leaving the Cedar Grove store and a dark-green or blue Chevrolet Corsica from the Campbells Creek shooting.

http://www.local6.com/news/2407884/detail.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:49 PM
matt@lefande.com

French block Lockerbie deal  

France has raised a last-minute obstacle to a deal in the Lockerbie plane bombing with a demand for more compensation from Libya in the separate downing of a French plane.

Libya agreed Wednesday to set up a $2.7 billion (1.7 billion pounds) fund for families of victims of the 1988 attack over Lockerbie, Scotland, in a landmark deal which could thaw icy relations with the West and reopen the door to foreign investment.

The deal, which includes an arrangement in which Libya was expected to take responsibility for the bombing that killed 270 people, had been expected to trigger a U.N. Security Council vote as soon as early next week to permanently end the U.N. sanctions.

But in a move bound to fuel Franco-U.S. tension, France, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, said it first wanted more compensation for the 1989 bombing of a UTA airlines flight over Africa that killed 170 people.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:38 PM
matt@lefande.com

Speed trap tattling sparks sniping  

WALDO, Fla. - Much like U.S. 301 splits this north Florida town down the middle, a billboard warning that the town is a speed trap has residents divided.

In the latest salvo of an 8-year-old war with police Chief A. W. Smith, AAA has erected a black and yellow billboard on the highway between Waldo and Starke, northeast of Gainesville.

"Speed Trap," the sign says in black block lettering inside a bright yellow diamond. Beside it, yellow on black, is the word "Waldo." Under that: "6 miles ahead."

A similar billboard warns motorists about Lawtey, about 20 miles north of Waldo. They are the only two towns in the United States specifically designated by AAA as "traffic traps."

Randy Bly, community relations director for AAA, said the billboards are a first for the auto club, which has carried warnings on the Internet and in material it supplies to motorists.

"We want to get out the message for people to slow down," Bly said.

Smith, who has been fighting with AAA since 1995 over his ticketing practices, assessed the billboard bluntly: "It's stupid."

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/weird_news/6528905.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:33 PM
matt@lefande.com

14 shootings an 'aberration'  

D.C. police say five shootings that killed a man and wounded 13 persons Wednesday night and early yesterday are an "aberration." But the shootings highlight a spate of violence that has pushed the city's homicide rate above one per day for the past three weeks.

There have been 20 killings in the past 19 days through yesterday afternoon, according to D.C. police.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20030814-093923-9747r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:24 PM
matt@lefande.com

CHAMPS Award - August 2003 Recipients  

The Capital Hotels Award Metropolitan Police Service (CHAMPS) Award Luncheon was held August 6 at the Washington Marriott Hotel, 1221 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC. Officers and detectives from the following units received awards for their service to the Washington, DC, community.



Third District
Reserve Officer Matthew LeFande
Reserve Officer Dan Kim

On February 23, 2003, Reserve Officers Matthew LeFande and Daniel Kim were on patrol in the 2700 block of M Street, NW when they observed two male subjects running from the 2800 block of M Street, NW to the 1200 block of 28th Street, NW.

The subjects were observed running and carrying large parcels. One of them stumbled, dropping a number of cartons of cigarettes on the sidewalk in the process. He attempted to hide the cigarettes by stuffing the cartons into a plastic trash can and covering the entire thing with a plastic trash bag. The other subject continued to run toward Olive Street, NW.

Reserve Officer Daniel Kim pursued the second subject and stopped him in the 2700 block of Olive Street, NW. A search was conducted and it revealed a large paper shopping bag filled with cartons of cigarettes and a small plastic bag filled with new toothbrushes.

Further investigation revealed that the subjects had broken into a CVS store located in the 2800 block of M Street, NW, pried opened the front door of the store, grabbed the carton of cigarettes and escaped on foot.

The suspects were placed under arrest and charged with Burglary.

These reserve officers used their keen observation skills to effect the successful arrest of two burglary suspects. It should be noted that, although these individuals exhibited exemplary policing skills, law enforcement is not their primary line of work. The time they spend serving as reserve corps officers is completely voluntary. Reserve officers provide a valuable service to the MPDC and the citizens of the District of Columbia and their contributions are greatly appreciated.

http://mpdc.dc.gov/about/heroes/champs/2003/08.shtm

posted by Matthew LeFande 2:12 PM
matt@lefande.com

Armed Citizen of the Week  

Tyrone McKnight, a Charlotte, N.C., man with a record of some 30 offenses committed over eight years, picked the wrong target for what would be his last crime. McKnight broke into an East Charlotte apartment about 2:30 a.m. Resident Jerene Haron O’Neal, awake and armed, pointed a gun at McKnight and fired at least three times, according to Charlottte-Mecklenberg police. McKnight was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

http://www.lefande.com/charlotteobserver.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:49 AM
matt@lefande.com

Troops in Iraq face pay cut  

The Pentagon wants to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, who are already contending with guerrilla-style attacks, homesickness and 120- degree-plus heat.

Unless Congress and President Bush take quick action when Congress returns after Labor Day, the uniformed Americans in Iraq and the 9,000 in Afghanistan will lose a pay increase approved last April of $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and $150 a month in "family separation allowances."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/14/MN94780.DTL

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:55 AM
matt@lefande.com

Thursday, August 14, 2003

It's play & pay for molester clown  

Not only can a convicted child molester perform his clown act in a Westchester amusement park, the county owes him $2,500 for trying to keep him out, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

Richard Hobbs, 50, of Yonkers, can do his number in certain parts of the Rye Playland amusement park, Federal Judge John Martin ruled.

And the judge made Hobbs, who was convicted in 1978 and 1982 of sexually abusing children, out to be a victim, saying the county had violated his First Amendment rights.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/109074p-98460c.html

And NPR is complaining about Ashcroft doing what?

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:52 PM
matt@lefande.com

Top doll  

President Bush's ceremonial landing on an aircraft carrier to declare major combat over in Iraq has been immortalized in an action figure being distributed by K-B Toys.

Blue Box recommends that only those 14 and older use the Bush doll, which it says is an "adult collectible item" and emphatically not a toy. The doll may, in fact -- as yesterday's article in the Washington Post pointed out -- pose a choking hazard for the president's Democratic opponents.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~1567340,00.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:40 PM
matt@lefande.com

The real 411 on today's blackout...  

There is a high number of reliable witness who reported UFOs. Pilots did. Pictures were taken.

Was there any physical effect caused by a UFO? We have to conclude that to cut 30 million people off from electrical power over 8 states is a sufficient physical evidence.

Reporters, technicians, ufologists and scientists who investigated the black-out understood its true cause. But a massive concerted cover-up to discard the UFO as a cause of this physical evidence of the UFOs.

http://www.chez.com/lesovnis/htm/blackout65.htm

(I think this URL is on the same server as the NORML site.)

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:25 PM
matt@lefande.com

The newest member of our team...  

http://www.lefande.com/puppy

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:48 PM
matt@lefande.com

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Schwarzenegger Films Will Trigger FCC Equal Time Rule  

Films and television shows featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrity candidates in California's gubernatorial recall election will likely not be broadcast in the state for the next few months so that stations can avoid having to give rival candidates equal time.

The airing of "Total Recall" or another Schwarzenegger film, or a repeat of a "Diff'rent Strokes" episode with Gary Coleman on broadcast television in California would trigger the Federal Communications Commission's equal time provision, allowing other candidates to demand the same amount of time.

Cable channels are not covered by the FCC rule, which in the past kept reruns of "Death Valley Days" off the air while Ronald Reagan ran for president. A repeat of a "Saturday Night Live" episode featuring Don Novello, aka Father Guido Sarducci, on cable, for instance, would not trigger the provision.

http://www.nbc4.tv/politics/2400140/detail.html?treets=la&tid=2652343365813&tml=la_12pm&tmi=la_12pm_6137_02000008122003&ts=H

posted by Matthew LeFande 11:24 PM
matt@lefande.com

91-Year-Old Man Arrested For Bank Robbery  

A 91-year-old Texas man - once the oldest inmate in Florida - is back in jail again, accused of robbing his third bank in five years.

J.L. Hunter "Red" Rountree, of Goldthwaite, walked into a branch of First American Bank in Abilene about 10 a.m. Tuesday, demanded money from a teller and passed over a large envelope with "ROBBERY" written on it.

He left in a car parked near the bank, but a witness got the license plate, which police tracked to an address in Goldthwaite, 110 miles southeast of Abilene. About a half-hour later, Rountree was pulled over by officers with the Department of Public Safety and the Taylor County Sheriff's Department as he drove through Lawn, 16 miles south of Abilene on U.S. 84 on the way back to Goldthwaite.

Rountree was jailed on a charge of bank robbery. Bond was set at $150,000.

http://www.local6.com/news/2401831/detail.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 11:14 PM
matt@lefande.com

Dog passes alcohol test  

A German man of Polish origin lost his driving licence after failing an alcohol test but his dog passed with flying colours, police in the western city of Koblenz say.

Police said the 47-year-old man failed to perform any of the required actions, only to be upstaged by his West Highland white terrier who executed all of the commands given perfectly, including a 360 degree turn as his master staggered and fell.

At the conclusion of the uneven contest, the supervising doctor announced, "Man: fail; dog: pass."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=857&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20030813/od_uk_nm/oukoe_odd_germany_dog

posted by Matthew LeFande 11:12 PM
matt@lefande.com

Police pull over man riding motorized bar stool  

Police pulled over a man on a bar stool -- after a slow speed pursuit on one of Reno's busier streets.

It started Monday when an officer saw a man riding the motorized bar stool at 35 mph. He was being followed closely by a woman in a Mustang.

Both driver and rider were pulled over.

The woman told police she had been on the phone with a dispatcher reporting the bar stool stolen.

The owner of the bar stool confirmed that the stool, powered by a small engine, had been taken three weeks earlier.

Jarrett Orcutt, 22, said he had bought it a little over a week ago, thinking it was a toy and added that he had driven it between Reno and nearby Sparks several times. Police estimate its value at more than $1,000.

Orcutt faces Reno charges of possession of stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia and numerous traffic violations.

Sparks police are handling the stolen vehicle report.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/08/13/police_pull_over_man_riding_motorized_bar_stool_associated_press

http://www.barstoolracing.net/

posted by Matthew LeFande 11:10 PM
matt@lefande.com

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Al-Qaida Won't Forget Our Security Issues  

Our air travel system is still very vulnerable to hijacking, and quick measures need to be taken. Another successful attack would make it very difficult to again restore travelers’ faith in security.

Consider the following:

- Pilot unions report that although one-quarter of the flights out of Reagan National have air marshals, the level is close to 1% for Baltimore-Washington and Dulles International Airports flights and essentially zero over most of the rest of the country. Only a small fraction of flights to Europe are being covered and then only one day a week.

- The newest generation of reinforced cockpit doors was put in place in April, but few experts have much faith in their effectiveness. Last summer, on a bet, a cleaning crew rammed a drink cart into one of the new doors on a United Airlines plane. The door reportedly broke off its hinges.

- No tests of airport screening have been made public since the government took over screening last fall, but, in private meetings, the Transportation Security Administration acknowledges there is a wide range of undetectable lethal weapons.

For example, without full body searches there is no way to detect ceramic or plastic knives that are taped to an inside thigh.

What is more disappointing is that despite Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's public support on Sunday for arming pilots as a last line of defense (indeed it was the first policy he mentioned), the Bush Administration has fought the program at every turn.

The training facility was closed down and relocated immediately after the first class, prompting Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee, to complain that the closing appeared to be "just another attempt to disrupt the program . . ."

The intrusive application form pilots are required to fill out warns them that the information obtained by the Transportation Security Administration is "not limited to [the pilot's] academic, residential, achievement, performance, attendance, disciplinary, employment history, criminal history record information, and financial and credit information."

The information can be turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and used to revoke a pilot's commercial license.

The screening and psychological testing required of the pilots are also much more extensive and intrusive than that required for the vast majority of air marshals. Some questions even appear designed to purposefully disqualify pilot applicants.

More than 70% of the pilots at major American airlines have military backgrounds, and military pilots flying outside the U.S. are required to carry handguns with them whenever they flew military planes.

Few people realize that until the 1960s, American commercial passenger pilots on any flight carrying U.S. mail were required to carry handguns; they were allowed to do so until 1987.

Protecting people should be as important as protecting the mail once was.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/lott/lott12.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 1:32 PM
matt@lefande.com

Monday, August 11, 2003

U.S. Fines Woman for Being 'Human Shield'  

A retired schoolteacher who went to Iraq to serve as a "human shield" against the U.S. invasion is facing thousands of dollars in U.S. government fines, which she is refusing to pay.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a March letter to Faith Fippinger that she broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border before the war. Her travel to Iraq violated U.S. sanctions that prohibited American citizens from engaging in "virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq."

She and others from 30 countries spread out through Iraq to prevent the war. She spent about three months there. Only about 20 of nearly 300 "human shields" were Americans, she said.

Fippinger, who returned home May 4, is being fined at least $10,000, but she has refused to pay. She could face up to 12 years in prison.

http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/8-11-2003/20030811070011_12.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:13 PM
matt@lefande.com

The ban against public safety  

Crime has risen significantly since the DC gun ban went into effect. In the five years before Washington's ban in 1976, the murder rate fell from 37 to 27 per 100,000. In the five years after it went into effect, the murder rate rose back up to 35. In fact, the murder rate after 1976 has never fallen back to what it was in 1976. Robberies and overall violent crime changed just as dramatically. Robberies fell from 1,514 to 1,003 per 100,000 and then rose by over 63 percent, up to 1,635. These drops and subsequent increases were much larger than any changes in neighboring Maryland and Virginia. For example, the District's murder rate fell 3.5 to 3 times more than in the neighboring states and rose back 3.8 times more.

The District does face some severe crime problems unrelated to the gun ban. Although it has improved in recent years, the District's police force still fights a legacy of corruption and incompetence: Under city hiring rules police can't use even basic intelligence tests to screen applicants.

But even cities with far better police agencies have seen crime soar in the wake of handgun bans. Chicago, which has banned all handguns since 1982, has police computer systems that are the envy of the nation, a bevy of shiny new police facilities and a productive working relationship with community groups. Indeed, the city has achieved impressive reductions in property crime in recent years. But the gun ban didn't work at all when it came to reducing violence.

Chicago's murder rate fell from 27 to 22 per 100,000 in the five years before the law and then rose slightly to 23. The change is even more dramatic when compared to five neighboring Illinois counties: Chicago's murder rate fell from being 8.1 times greater than its neighbors in 1977 to 5.5 times in 1982, and then went way up to 12 times greater in 1987. While robbery data isn't available for the years immediately after the ban, since 1985 (the first year for which the FBI has data) robbery rates soared.

In other words, crime rates actually improved prior to these bans and then deteriorated after they took effect. Even though guns will leak into the District and Chicago from neighboring areas, at least some minor benefit still should have been observed if gun bans reduce crime. Instead, the opposite was the case. The gun bans appear to have disarmed only law-abiding citizens while leaving criminals free to prey on the populace.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030810-103927-3346r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:07 PM
matt@lefande.com

Friday, August 08, 2003

G.I.'s Have X-Ray Vision. Of Course.  

As an American soldier peered out of a passing tank, a young engineering student and a retired accountant contemplated one of the more common questions on the streets of Baghdad: Did the soldier's wraparound sunglasses give him X-ray vision?

"With those glasses, he can definitely see through women's clothes," said the engineering student, Samer Hamid. "It makes me angry. We are afraid to take our families out on the street."

The retired accountant, Hekmet Tinber Hassan, smiled and said it was a baseless rumor, just like the widespread story that Saddam Hussein had been secretly working for America and was now at a C.I.A. safe house. "I do not believe Saddam is in America," Mr. Hassan said. "I heard he went to Tel Aviv."

Just as truth is the first casualty of war, urban legends seem to be the first creation of a military occupation, especially when the cultural gap is as wide as it is here. After life under Mr. Hussein, people here are accustomed to conspiracy theories and ready to believe the worst about anyone in power.

Of course, Americans have been circulating their own kinds of legends, starting with the fantasies a few months ago that the occupying troops would be peacefully welcomed by a nation of grateful flower-waving citizens. But there have been more guns than flowers. In the urban legends flourishing here, the soldiers triumphed thanks to Mr. Hussein's treachery and to American technology. The legend about the X-ray sunglasses may have evolved from reports about the soldiers' night-vision goggles, or maybe just from the imposing Terminator image of the soldiers.

Compared with the residents, who cope with 120-degree heat by staying in the shade and dressing in light clothes and sandals, the soldiers have the look of robotic aliens as they patrol in the midday sun wearing combat boots, helmets and armored vests.

Some Iraqis say the soldiers take special pills that keep them cool, but the most common theory is that they have portable air-conditioners — usually said to be inside the vests, but sometimes placed in the helmet or even the underwear.

"There is fluid circulating throughout the underwear," said Mr. Hamid, the engineering student. "I am not sure of the exact mechanism, but we all know the Americans have very sophisticated technology."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/international/worldspecial/07LEGE.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 AM
matt@lefande.com

Hijacker Crashed Flight 93 on 9/11  

A Sept. 11 hijacker in the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 instructed terrorist-pilot Ziad Jarrah to crash the jetliner moments before it slammed into a Pennsylvania field because of a fierce passenger uprising in the cabin, recently disclosed testimony by the FBI director shows.

The theory described by FBI Director Robert Mueller, based on the government's analysis of cockpit recordings, discounts the popular perception of insurgent passengers grappling with terrorists inside the cockpit, trying to seize the plane's controls, immediately before the crash.

The government's findings -- laid out deep within the July 24 congressional report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- aim to resolve one of the enduring mysteries of the deadliest terror attacks in U.S. history: What happened in the final minutes aboard Flight 93? The newly published excerpts from Mueller's testimony appear at odds with what families of some passengers have come to believe happened.

The FBI strenuously maintains that its analysis does not diminish the heroism of passengers who, with the words "Let's roll," apparently rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overwhelm the hijackers. In phone calls from the plane, four passengers said they and others decided to fight the hijackers after learning of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York that morning.

"In the cockpit! In the cockpit!" the passengers are heard yelling, according to Alice Hoglan of Los Gatos, Calif., who was among family members permitted to listen to the cockpit recording. Her son, Mark Bingham, died in the crash. She said the recording and a transcript the FBI provided to her and other families "doesn't leave very much doubt at all that passengers were able to get that cockpit door open."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32290-2003Aug8.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:45 AM
matt@lefande.com

Armed Citizen of the Week  

The owner of Borla's Service Station in Waterbury, Conn., couldn't believe his eyes when he glanced at the closed-circuit security monitor in his office. He saw a man threatening his cashier with a crowbar and demanding money. James Borla watched the scene play out on the monitor as the clerk, who'd only been on the job two weeks, became flustered and failed to open the cash register. It soon became apparent the clerk was in imminent danger as the man became agitated and slammed his crowbar against the counter, demanding she open the register. Borla grabbed the .44-cal. handgun he keeps in his office and came up behind the suspect, ordering him to drop his weapon and lie down on the floor. Borla held the suspect at gunpoint for police, who arrested the man and charged him with first-degree robbery.

http://classifieds.rep-am.com/webarchive/top/4jc3.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:44 AM
matt@lefande.com

Thursday, August 07, 2003

Dead driver given fine  

A MAN lay dead in his car while a parking inspector put a parking ticket on his windscreen.

The man, aged in his 20s, was slumped in the front seat after dying of a suspected drug overdose.

But a parking officer in suburban Melbourne issued a fine on the car as it was parked on a clearway early on Tuesday morning.

The officer thought the driver was asleep and did not try to rouse him. Ambulance officers were called some 40 minutes later.

A council spokesman said the incident had distressed the parking officer who had been offered counselling.

"The parking officer honestly believed the person in the car was intoxicated and sleeping it off," he said.

http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6887881^13762,00.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 PM
matt@lefande.com

Arnold to run for governor in California  

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday said he would run in California's recall election, lending Republicans his marquee value in their campaign to oust Gov. Gray Davis.

"Say 'hasta la vista' to Gray Davis."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030806-113745-9850r.htm

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:13 AM
matt@lefande.com

Computer Crash Wipes Out 200 Police Case Files  

Computer files for about 200 crimes under investigation by D.C. police were lost last month after a "catastrophic hardware failure" in a database used by detectives, officials said.

Detectives can reenter the lost information, but the failure has demonstrated the vulnerability of a crucial record-keeping system used by the police department.

Computer technicians still have not determined what caused the crash in the Washington Area Criminal Intelligence Information System, erasing many of the cases that had been entered between July 5 and 14.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23250-2003Aug6.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:10 AM
matt@lefande.com

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Venture to Open Defense Technology to Police  

When police, firefighters and paramedics get emergency calls, they frequently rely on public information to determine how to get to a fire, crime scene or accident site. Better information -- such as satellite photos of the scene -- exist, but much of it is collected by intelligence agencies and is unavailable to civil agencies.

"Data that started life as classified information is hard to share, because of the obvious concerns," said W. Edward Hammersla, chief executive of Herndon-based Trusted Computer Solutions Inc. But Hammersla's company wants to bring that information to emergency first responders. If successful, its software will help civil agencies separate and access nonconfidential information from more sensitive data.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22001-2003Aug5.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 10:32 AM
matt@lefande.com

Monday, August 04, 2003

Judge Sends Offenders to Tai Chi Class  

Municipal Court might be the last place you would expect to find offenders meditating and learning to balance their chi.

But this, after all, is Santa Fe.

And it's where Judge Frances Gallegos has placed offenders in her new alternative sentencing program--a tai chi class complete with a Japanese-style tea service and meditation aided by acupuncture.

Instructor Mark De Francis, a doctor of Oriental medicine who works as a psychologist for the state Corrections Department, said he believes violent offenders can benefit from tai chi and meditation.

http://www.statesman.com/aponline/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V3874.AP-Tai-Chi-Judge.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:55 PM
matt@lefande.com

Place Your Bets....  

Tradesports has opened a new 0-100 proposition contract on Admiral Poindexter remaining on the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency(DARPA) payroll by August 31st 2003.



This contract can be found under Current Events>Pentagon.

The contract will expire at 100 if Admiral Pointexter is still officially on the DARPA payroll by 11:59pm ET on the specific date. The contract will expire at 0 if for any reason (eg retirement) Admiral Poindexter is not on the DARPA payroll at this time.

Tradesports will expire the contracts based on any official US Government/Pentagon announcement and crossed checked in 3 reliable independant media sources.

http://www.tradesports.com/

posted by Matthew LeFande 8:47 AM
matt@lefande.com

Saturday, August 02, 2003

D.C. Police Policy Puts the Brakes On Many Chases  

After D.C. police officer Lester W. Taylor Jr. chased and arrested two sexual assault suspects in May, his captain wrote a letter summarizing the capture. For the most part, it read like the kind of citation given to police for heroic conduct.

"Officer Taylor should be commended for being proactive, and aggressive while on patrol," Capt. George Dixon wrote, saying Taylor took "two very violent subjects off the streets of Washington D.C."

But the letter was anything but a commendation. Taylor, a member of the force for 12 years, was being disciplined for violating the District's rules on police pursuits -- policies that experts say are among the strictest in the nation.

Those rules dictate that officers can chase only suspects who pose an immediate danger of injuring or killing someone. They may not chase a suspect for a crime committed several days before, even if that crime was serious, according to the head of police internal affairs.

Police officials say the rules were put into place a decade ago after a rash of crashes during pursuits.

The city's police union has charged for years that the rules allow too much room for second-guessing decisions that officers must make in an instant. If officers follow the rules strictly, union leaders have said, they allow criminals an easy way to escape."That sends the wrong message," said Sgt. Gregory I. Greene, the acting head of the union. "All you have to do is go into the car and go over the speed limit and you can go unfettered."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15582-2003Aug2.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 11:53 PM
matt@lefande.com

Friday, August 01, 2003

D.C. Judge Rules Maddox Can Stay in Office  

A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled today that Inspector General Charles C. Maddox can remain in office even though he does not meet newly enacted qualifications for the job that were put in place by the D.C. Council

The decision was a blow to the D.C. Council, which has been at odds with Maddox and which sued Mayor Anthony A. Williams to force him to fire the 60-year-old investigator.

The judge, John M. Campbell, ruled that the council was overstepping its own powers by insisting that the mayor apply the new qualifications to Maddox in the middle of the inspector general's term. Maddox's six-year term was to run until 2005.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12623-2003Aug1.html

posted by Matthew LeFande 9:08 PM
matt@lefande.com

And the winner is...  

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:50 AM
matt@lefande.com

Armed Citizen of the Week  

When a Rocheport, Mo., woman noticed a stranger outside her home banging on her doors and windows, she dialed 9-1-1. The man then broke a window and entered the home. Upon hearing the glass break, the homeowner grabbed a pistol and went out the back door to seek shelter in her garage. When the intruder entered the garage carrying a cooler filled with beer and food he had stolen from the house, the homeowner drew her gun and held the burglar until deputies arrived to take him into custody.

http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2003/apr/20030419news024.asp

posted by Matthew LeFande 7:35 AM
matt@lefande.com

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