September 28, 2014

Cops: Student Passes Out Pot-Laced Lollipops To Classmates

A police chief in Connecticut says a girl handed out marijuana-laced lollipops to classmates at her high school, and one student was hospitalized.

Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza tells the Journal Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1v89Fo9 ) that the Enfield High student acknowledged sharing the tainted lollipops, which were laced with THC, an active ingredient in marijuana. She said she received the candy in the mail from California.

The police chief says a 16-year-old girl was hospitalized overnight Monday after consuming one of the lollipops. But he says the student who brought the tainted lollipops to school denied giving any to her.

Because the student is being charged is a juvenile, she will not be arrested. Sferrazza says she'll instead be referred to juvenile court.

September 24, 2014

Vatican Arrests Ex-Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski on Pedophilia Charges

The Vatican on Tuesday arrested a former archbishop accused of paying for sex with children while he was a papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic, the first-ever arrest inside the city state on charges of paedophilia. Jozef Wesolowski, a Pole who was defrocked by a Vatican tribunal in June, has been placed under house arrest awaiting a criminal trial, the Vatican said in a statement.

The 66-year-old Wesolowski is the most prominent church figure to be arrested since Paolo Gabriele, a former papal butler convicted in 2012 of stealing and leaking private papers of former Pope Benedict XVI. Unlike Gabriele, Wesolowski has not been detained in the Vatican prison, a couple of rooms attached to a courthouse, but was granted house arrest in a Vatican apartment for medical reasons.

Wesolowski was recalled to Rome by the Vatican last year when he was still a diplomat in Santo Domingo and relieved of his duties after Dominican media accused him of paedophilia.

He had been living freely in Rome, and victims of sexual abuse had called for his arrest, expressing concern he might flee. The former archbishop could face up to 12 years in jail in what will be the first trial for sexual abuse to be held inside the Vatican City.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vatican-arrests-ex-archbishop-jozef-wesolowski-pedophilia-charges-n210166

September 23, 2014

Florida man escapes prison to get tobacco, alcohol, cigarettes

Jason Wayne Adams, 27, revealed the escape to deputies after his Sept. 9 arrest in his latest attempt to flee law enforcement.

Adams told deputies he escaped a work detail in Lutz on Aug. 28 and went to the Metro Food Mart at 24050 S.R. 54, according to his arrest report. He planned to smuggle chewing tobacco, cartons of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages back to the Sumter Correctional Institute in Bushnell.

Video from the store shows that Adams changed from his inmate uniform before going to the store, the report says. He then returned to his work crew without corrections officers noticing.

...

State Corrections Secretary Mike Crews said Wednesday his agency will make unannounced inspections of work details.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pasco/inmate-charged-in-previous-escape-from-work-detail

Added that last paragraph in there just to point out the irony of announcing unannounced inspections.

September 23, 2014

Florida man at drive-thru: “Give me a hamburger or I’ll shoot you”

“Give me a hamburger or I’ll shoot you.”

That is what Dechazo Harris, gun in hand, allegedly said to a Florida drive-thru worker with whom he quarreled over an order.

According to police, Harris, 27, ordered a midnight meal via a drive-thru speaker at a Checkers in West Palm Beach earlier this year. When he drove to the pick-up window, he sought to submit a second order.

However, Checkers manager Rontavious Tarver, 20, explained to Harris (seen below) that if he wanted to place another order, he would have to drive around to the speaker and place it there.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/armed-man-demands-Checkers-hamburger-687432

September 23, 2014

Florida Man walks in traffic, urinates on cars

A 19-year-old man told Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies he was “having fun” urinating on cars and walking in traffic Tuesday night.

Eric Revello’s “fun” ended in arrest. He faces charges of battery on an officer, battery on EMT, resisting an officer and escape.

Deputies were called to the 300 block of Maryland Drive, near the city’s College Park district, where they were told a man was urinating on cars. According to a report made public Tuesday, Revello’s mother told deputies she tried to get him help in the past, and even had him hospitalized under the state’s Baker Act, but didn’t let him in her home because she feared his violent outbursts.

As deputies questioned him, Revello told them he smoked marijuana and drank alcohol earlier. Because he was walking in traffic, deputies told him he had to go to a hospital to be evaluated.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/pbso-lake-worth-man-tells-deputies-hes-having-fun-/nhPmF/

September 22, 2014

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh (former USCCB spokeswoman): "Just say thank you" to nuns

The nuns' works continue even as the Vatican criticizes the sisters, who object that they have to spend time on this contretemps when there are other needs to meet. Right now, for example, the sisters have agreed to take on heroic work as part of Solidarity With South Sudan, an enterprise begun in 2008 to rebuild that war-torn nation. This effort of men and women religious worldwide is supported by the LCWR in the United States. So far, they have built two training colleges and trained 2,500 teachers, rehabilitated a health training institute that has graduated 65 registered nurses and 35 midwives, and initiated training of farmers and pastoral teams to aid the suffering people there.

A couple weeks ago, Mercy Sister Karen Schneider, M.D., an emergency department physician from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, returned from rural Nigeria, where, despite the Ebola threat, she and other sisters provided surgery and other health services to children. They offered what is routine care in our affluent country but generally out of reach in rural Nigeria and other third world nations.

The LCWR has been criticized by some, including, the National Catholic Reporter, for playing their cards close to the vest and not engaging in public battle with the CDF. A wounding verbal scrimmage of ecclesial boys and girls would be any newspaper's dream but would cause harm to church unity, something the nuns are loathe to do.

Cardinal Mueller reportedly will be on the east coast in November. It would be well for him to meet some of the sisters involved in these and other works. It also may be time for the Vatican to draw this controversy to an end. It's time to follow the philanthropist's advice and just say "Thank you."

http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/how-should-cdf-treat-us-nuns-just-say-thank-you

September 20, 2014

Blase Cupich named Chicago archbishop

The Associated Press has learned Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash. will be the next Chicago archbishop, replacing Francis Cardinal George, the news agency reported Friday.

A person with knowledge of the selection spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a news conference Saturday, but will not comment.

Pope Francis’ choice for Chicago has been closely watched. It is his first major U.S. appointment and the clearest sign yet of the direction he hopes to steer American church leaders.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/09/19/chicago-archdiocese-schedules-news-conference-for-saturday-about-cardinal/?utm_medium=VPH&utm_source=topvph_news&utm_campaign=587270

Everything I'm seeing about Cupich is that he's what we've come to expect from Francis: Open to dialogue, pastoral, and reluctant to engage in "culture wars."

In other words, not much like Cardinal George.

September 18, 2014

Wifi Wars

http://guff.com/hilarious-wi-fi-wars/

September 17, 2014

Teacher helps student with cerebral palsy cross Bridge Run finish line

After 16-year-old Tony Bonofiglo crossed the Bridge Run’s finish line on Sunday, the Forest Hills Northern High School junior yelled out in excitement and high-fived his “angel” -- a high school English teacher who pushed him through the 10K course in a jogging stroller.

Tony, who was born with cerebral palsy, has participated in about 25 races since he was 8 years old. Volunteers with myTeam Triumph – known as angels – have helped Tony complete the Reeds Lake Triathlon, Grand Rapids Marathon and the Bridge Run numerous times.

MyTeam Triumph is a ride-along program that gives people with disabilities the ability to experience athletic events, such as triathlons or road races, who might not otherwise be able to do so.

“I get so much joy on race day and said why not have them have that same experience,” said co-founder Terence Reuben, a physical therapist. “So we figured out how to make it happen and make the race all about them.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/09/forest_hills_northern_teacher_1.html

September 17, 2014

Florida man repeatedly calls 911 because he has food but no fridge

Apparently this guy wanted a fridge, and was determined to keep asking for one until hell freezes over.

Richard Wild, a 60-year-old Panhandle man, allegedly dialed 911 because he was “upset because he has food and not a fridge,” reports the Northwest Florida Daily News in Fort Walton Beach.

Wild "defiantly" told the dispatcher he was going to keep calling, cops said.

When Wild refused to chill out, cops took him to the cooler.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/strange/floriduh-blog/sfl-flduh-911-fridge-20140915,0,3846953.story