http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/local-chat/ en-us Tue, 5 Jan 2010 02:02:03 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2421044/posts PLAINS TWP. – Luzerne County’s first baby of the new year finally arrived on Sunday. Xavier Pope, weighing in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces, decided he couldn’t wait until the end of January, when his mother, Leda Pope, 17, of West Pittston, expected him. Not only did the newborn come a few weeks early, he was born within two hours of his mother going into labor, she said. But don’t let the relatively short labor fool you. Leda said Xavier’s was the most difficult of the three births she’s given in the last two years. “I didn’t have any pain... Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre PA) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2421044/posts#comment Tue, 5 Jan 2010 02:02:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420598/posts Houston elected an openly gay mayor. Inauguation live on C-Span. She was just sworn in with a female at her side. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420598/posts#comment Mon, 4 Jan 2010 16:01:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420728/posts A Toledo woman, who allegedly put her fist through a fast-food drive-through window after being told her order couldn't be filled, appeared in court Saturday on a felony vandalism charge. Melodi Dushane, 24, of 1332 Felt St. became "upset that chicken nuggets weren't available" and "punched out the drive-through window," according to Toledo police. Police were called Friday to the McDonald's restaurant at 90 Main St., where Ms. Dushane was arrested. Before Ms. Dushane was booked into the Lucas County jail, she was treated at Mercy St. Charles Hospital for injuries sustained when she allegedly punched at the window. Ms.... Toledo Blade http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420728/posts#comment Mon, 4 Jan 2010 18:37:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420714/posts Not Everything is Recyclable   By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee     Seattle police shut down several streets in Wallingford and called out the bomb squad this morning   after staff at the North Seattle Transfer Station found that someone had tried to dispose of explosives at the facility.The call came in around 9:45 after an employee reported that they'd found a live 155mm round—like those used in Howitzer cannons—in a recycling bin.The bomb squad recovered the explosives and police reopened the streets around the facility shortly before 10 a.m.And now I think we can all agree that recycling and terrorism are practically... SeattleCrime.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420714/posts#comment Mon, 4 Jan 2010 18:25:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420549/posts An unusual folk celebration of the Three Kings will be held in Caguas this evening, as musicians sing a third of the traditional rosary sung to the Magi. Elsewhere the typical celebration of the Epiphany got under way Sunday as the Magi and island mayors distributed toys and candy to children in their homes. A rosary to the Three Kings will be sung at 7 p.m. tonight on the steps of the Dulce Nombre De Jesús Cathedral in Plaza Santiago R. Palmer in Caguas. Folklore expert Norma Salazar of the city’s Cultural Development Department will direct the event, in which... Puerto Rico Daily Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420549/posts#comment Mon, 4 Jan 2010 14:46:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420241/posts In Savannah Georgia a snitch/competitor uses the favor of the police force to set up an undercover sting on a delivery service. More than 5 police officers detain a man for delivering biscuits and gravy. You got to hear this story! LIVE LEAK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420241/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:57:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420215/posts THE Roads and Traffic Authority has proudly announced the success of a road safety program - for our State's native wildlife. To reduce the number of animals killed on NSW roads each year, the RTA has installed more than 200 animal crossings on NSW highways. Rather than wait for a break in the constant flow of traffic, native animals are using specifically built tunnels and bridges to cross roads. And some of Australia's favourite native creatures have been smiling for the cameras as they scurry by. A little possum was snapped crossing over a rope bridge that hangs above the... The Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420215/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:07:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420199/posts Jenny the Pug pushes her Nintendog Pug puppies around Portland, Oregon. She leaves from our home, goes under the St Johns Bridge, visits Waterfront Park, Downtown Portland, Union Station, Pittock Mansion, Rose Gardens, the Grotto, and returns back home. The song is 'Child's Garden' by Dax Johnson. Youtube.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420199/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 21:39:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419542/posts It's possible drugs just might have been a factor in a Southern California rampage that involved a man allegedly jumping out of a third-story window, killing a dog with his bare hands and then pouring coffee all over himself after running naked through a tennis club, say authorities. Bayron Reyes Lopez allegedly began his busy day at a San Clemente apartment, where deputies responded to reports of a loud radio at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "We get there, go in the room, the guy is gone," sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino told the Orange County... nbclosangeles.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419542/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 16:44:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419403/posts Identical twin boys in Florida will get to celebrate their birthdays individually after they were born in separate decades. Margarita Velasco delivered the twins by cesarean section at Tampa General Hospital. Marcello was delivered just before midnight. His twin, Stephano, was delivered just as the new year began. Their father Juan says it'll be good for each boy to have his own birthday party. The twins are in intensive care because they were born about 10 weeks early. cbsnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419403/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 11:56:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419336/posts Martha Coakley, the current Massachusetts Attorney General, is not fit to be a United States Senator. Anyone who thinks so only needs to study the Fells Acres Day Care case. The Fells Acres Day Care was started by Violet Amirault and run with the help of her son, Gerald, and his sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave. In the midst of the daycare sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s, all three were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. The charges were some of the most heinous ever made. However, they were also ludicrous. Supposedly Gerald dressed up as a clown and... examiner.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419336/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 04:21:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2407957/posts CHILTON, Wis. (AP) -- Two Wisconsin women accused of seeking revenge on a cheating lover by gluing his penis to his stomach have reached plea deals. Forty-eight-year-old Therese Ziemann, of Menasha, was accused of doing the actual gluing. hosted http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2407957/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419132/posts A Lindenhurst man accused of putting anti-freeze in his mother’s coffee pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday morning. Michael Tangney Jr., 18, allegedly put anti-freeze in his mother’s coffee machine on Nov. 11, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Tim Niehus. There is some indication Tangney had a fight with his mother, but it is unclear if the fight occurred before or after the anti-freeze was added to the family coffee machine. Tangney’s mother drank from the coffee machine three days before she was hospitalized, Niehus said. He was unsure exactly how long she was in the hospital, but she... Chicago Sun-Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419132/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 20:49:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419041/posts Charles Krauthammer’s joining the ranks of Daily Times columnists pleased readers on the right who like his generally — though not invariably — conservative views. Those on the left are less than thrilled. I have my own reason for welcoming the doctor (he practiced and taught psychiatry before switching to speechwriting and then to commentary): He’s one of the endangered species called wordsmiths. Like master artisans working precious metals, wordsmiths shape and polish lumps of words until they gleam. Krauthammer on America’s limited activity in space: “We’ve done it with the most beautiful, intricate, complicated — and ultimately hopelessly impractical... The Kerrville Daily Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419041/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 18:11:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418867/posts Metallica rock band leader James Hetfield has donated to Marin County a 330-acre agricultural conservation easement near his home on land overlooking Lucas Valley. The Marin Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously accepted donation of the easement, which precludes development on the land known as the Luiz Ranch. "This is a really exciting offer," said Supervisor Steve Kinsey. He said Hetfield was "taking a break from heavy metal to become a heavy contributor to our agricultural conservation efforts. "It's another indication of a continuing effort to improve our partnerships on that important ridge and I think it reflects very positively... San Jose Mercury News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418867/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 10:00:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418849/posts EVERETT, Wash. -- How's this for a date from hell? A woman seduces you, leaves you naked and takes off with your valuables, including your car. Police say that's just what Ashley Dawson did to an unsuspecting man. The alleged victim, Andrew Scarbrough, says it appears he went looking for love in all the wrong places, including the Internet. He hoped he'd found love when he met a woman on MySpace. The two met in person, and they went back to his place. He says they began to get intimate, and shedding their clothes. That's when things went wrong in... 2news.tv http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418849/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 07:22:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418732/posts In one of Genesee County’s worst cases of child neglect, the body of Shylae Thomas, a 9-year-old quadriplegic girl, was found stuffed in a plastic storage bin and surrounded by mothballs in a Vienna Township storage facility in April. Her biological aunt and adoptive mother, Lorrie M. Thomas, 40, faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the death. Thomas was accused of moving the girl’s body to the storage facility after Shylae died from chronic malnutrition and neglect. She weighed 33 pounds when she died. Family of Thomas blamed the Department of... Flint Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418732/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 01:46:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418716/posts A 44-year-old Redding chiropractor who pleaded not guilty Monday in Shasta County Superior Court to molesting a 10-year-old girl admitted to a Redding police investigator that he did molest her and that he knew his actions were wrong, a police report reveals. Edward Scott Roberts, who was arrested on Dec. 24 at his Hartnell Avenue business and remains in custody in Shasta County jail in lieu of $200,000 bail, is charged with one felony count of continuous sexual assault on a minor. The police report, which was obtained on Wednesday, shows that Roberts was interviewed by an investigator on Dec.... Redding (CA) Record Searchlight http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418716/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:56:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418691/posts MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A mother whose infant daughter was among the children sexually abused at a day care center several years ago by child predator John Worman said all her daughter, who is 6, knows is that “I have to go court to make sure the bad man can’t get out.” Worman, 42, of Colwyn, who is serving 120 years in jail after being convicted in federal court in September 2008 in a horrific sexual-abuse case, entered pleas in Delaware County Court Tuesday to charges he forced sex on four of the children ranging in age from infancy to 15... Delaware County Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418691/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:04:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418683/posts A CHILDREN'S counsellor faces jail after he was found guilty of offering to pay a 14-year-old girl £300 for sex. Brian Pead, 56, of Days Lane, Sidcup, was trapped in an online police sting by an undercover officer posing as a teenager. Pead, who worked as a therapist for vulnerable youngsters including victims of sexual abuse, later claimed the chats were part of 'research' for his job. In a series of explicit conversations, Pead offered to meet the girl for sex in central London. He was convicted of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity... Bexley Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418683/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:54:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418677/posts CLEARWATER, Fla -- An 11-year-old Florida girl is in a psychiatric ward and her mother in the hospital after the tween allegedly set the woman's bed on fire as she slept, police said today. Police and fire officials were called to the Huntington Lane home shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday where they found Nancy Broadhead in the front yard. Police say the woman was awakened by a smoke alarm and managed to escape. Broadhead was taken to the hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Her daughter, Samantha, and her boyfriend 15-year old Jack Ault are accused of pouring gasoline... KTLA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418677/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:49:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418581/posts At least three masked men broke into a Park Manor home, made 11 people inside remove their pants, shot one man and fled with the pants, their contents and televisions early Thursday on the South Side. Three or four armed men wearing ski masks forced their way into a home at 6835 S. Champlain Ave. about 1:10 a.m. and ordered all 11 people inside to remove their pants, police said. The robbers then shot one of eleven, 33-year-old man, in the leg. He was taken to University of Chicago Hospitals and is expected to survive, police said. Police said the... Chicago Sun-Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418581/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:27:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418572/posts Three hours after the birthday party Elizabeth Reyes threw for her son ended Saturday, one of his classmates still hadn't left. So, when the doorbell of Reyes' Wauconda home finally rang, she expected to see one of the 11-year-old's embarrassed parents, not the police. "All I wanted to do was have a birthday party, and suddenly police are asking me questions," Reyes, 38, said Wednesday as further details emerged of a bizarre double shooting that left the boy's father fighting for his life. In an apparent case of confused identity, the 49-year-old dad dropped his son off at the Reyes... ChicagoSunTimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418572/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:17:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418543/posts It takes seven thick volumes (excluding the index) to contain all of the laws the General Assembly has seen fit to enact over the years. They'll soon be embarking on volume eight. Although media accounts sometimes make it seem like the General Assembly passed only one law last year (to prohibit texting while driving), lawmakers were quite prolific, passing hundreds of pieces of legislation. Some of them, like the state budget that critics contend isn't a budget at all, went into effect months ago. Others, like the new restrictions on campaign contributions, won't take effect for months to come. But... Pekin Daily Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418543/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:21:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418463/posts A Reebok commercial...put up on Facebook. Facebook http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418463/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:40:59 GMT