| Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, June 27, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 27 2009, 04:53 AM (148 Views) | |
| abb | Jun 27 2009, 04:53 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/orange/10-1175726.cfm Teen robbed at Carrboro Plaza BY BETH VELLIQUETTE : The Herald-Sun bvelliquette@heraldsun.com Jun 27, 2009 Bookmark and Share CARRBORO -- A 17-year-old reported Wednesday that he was robbed at knifepoint at Carrboro Plaza by a man who followed him off a transit bus. The teenager told police that he got off a Chapel Hill Transit bus at a bus stop in front of the ABC store about 4:20 p.m. "The suspect exited the bus after him and then bumped into him," the police report said. "The suspect pointed a knife at his waist and said, 'Empty your wallet. I'm taking your money, punk.'" The teenager said he removed about $90 from his wallet and threw it on the ground in front of the suspect, according to a police report. The suspect grabbed the cash and walked away toward the Berkshire Manor West Apartments, the report said. When the next bus arrived about 20 minutes later, the teen reported the robbery to the bus driver and asked the driver to call the police, and the driver did, the report said. "He described the suspect as a black male, about 30 years old, with a medium and muscular build," the report said. "He said that the suspect was wearing a black tank top and blue jeans." A police officer asked the teen to walk over to the apartments to show the officer where he had last seen the suspect, and as they did, the teen pointed at a man who was about 120 yards away, and said, "That's him," the report said. The suspect had his back to the officer and the teenager, but when he saw them, he took off running. The officer chased the suspect on foot, but lost sight of him after the man ran behind one of the apartment buildings. Another officer deployed his police dog, but the dog was unsuccessful in tracking the man, the report said. Someone else reported seeing the suspect jump the fence at Carolina Springs and run toward that building. Officers checked the area in and outside of that facility but could not locate the suspect, the report said. |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 04:58 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1585709.html Published: Jun 27, 2009 04:48 AM Modified: Jun 27, 2009 04:49 AM Former Gov. Mike Easley's portrait hangs on a sliding rack in a locked storeroom at the N.C. Museum of History. Staff photo by Joseph Neff Easley's portrait out of sight, as he is BY JOSEPH NEFF, Staff Writer RALEIGH - During his eight years in office, former Gov. Mike Easley built a reputation for being reclusive and seldom seen in public. Now his official portrait is carrying on the tradition. Portraits of recent governors such as Jim Hunt and Bob Scott hang in the Executive Mansion. Other governors adorn the state Senate and the Administration Building. The portrait of Easley, who left office in January, hangs in a locked storeroom in the N.C. Museum of History -- on Rack 14, to be precise, a sliding steel mesh panel in the museum's painting storage system. State law requires that a skilled artist paint a portrait of each governor; Easley's portrait was delivered last summer, and the last bill was paid in September. The commissioning of the portrait was handled by Judy Easley, the governor's former sister-in-law and an administrator at the Department of Cultural Resources. She chose Ronald Sherr, a New York artist whose portrait of President George H.W. Bush hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. The total cost for the Easley portrait was $50,802, which, when figuring for inflation, is slightly more than Jim Hunt's 2001 portrait and slightly less than Jim Holshouser's 1976 painting. The portrait cost $43,754 and the frame $6,347. Judy Easley spent another $700 to go to New York to inspect changes she asked Sherr to make: fixing a spot on the governor's tie, making his eyes bluer, and darkening the face of a clock. The governor's portrait customarily is hung in the mansion when the new one takes office, according to John Campbell, the history museum's collections manager. The painting is still in storage because it hasn't had an official unveiling, said Joe Newberry, a Cultural Resources spokesman. Newberry said he didn't know when that would be. In e-mail messages to the artist and his representative, Judy Easley kept rolling back the date. She first mentioned the summer of 2008. In January, she wrote that "they will probably have an unveiling soon." In April, she tied the date to the General Assembly: "My guess is that the unveiling will not be until after the budget passes and we are not even close yet." Efforts to reach Judy Easley were unsuccessful. Mike Easley has kept an even lower profile lately and is not granting interviews. A federal grand jury is investigating several aspects of his time as governor, including a coastal land development in which the Easleys bought a lot for a good price, the first family's use of vehicles, free flights the governor took on private jets, and a deal in which the state gave long-term control of a state-owned marina in Southport to a group that included Easley campaign contributors. For her part, Gov. Beverly Perdue has more pressing items to worry about, said spokesman David Kochman: "She wasn't aware that it was completed, and she isn't putting any thought into it," Kochman said. joseph.neff@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4516 |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 05:01 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1585548.html Published: Jun 27, 2009 05:17 AM Modified: Jun 27, 2009 05:18 AM Suspect held in armed home invasions From staff reports DURHAM - A Durham man has been charged in four armed home invasions within four days over the past week. Durham police charged Jose Javier Reyes Marquez, 36, of Weather Hill Circle with four counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, seven counts of second-degree kidnapping, four counts of breaking and entering, one count of larceny and one count of possession of a stolen firearm. Victims in each of the robberies said two men were involved. Police are trying to identify a second suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 683-1200 or a police investigator at 560-4582. Marquez was charged after an officer stopped the car he was driving Friday morning, based on descriptions of the vehicle the thieves had used. |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 05:03 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/story/1585544.html Published: Jun 27, 2009 05:16 AM Modified: Jun 27, 2009 05:16 AM 2 WRAL anchors leaving Take buyouts as station cuts BY MARTHA QUILLIN, Staff writer Two veteran newspeople at WRAL left the station Friday as its owner cut costs. WRAL announced that Bob Holliday, a sports anchor with 28 years at the station, accepted a voluntary buyout offer made last week to an undisclosed number of Capitol Broadcasting Co. employees. Anchor Volanda Calloway, who has eight years at WRAL, also left. Both worked their last day Friday. Jim Goodmon, Capitol's CEO and grandson of the founder, declined to discuss staffing when reached earlier in the week but said a cost-cutting plan would be in place by the end of June. Like The News & Observer and other news organizations across the country, Capitol has seen its revenue decline. The company had said it would cut operating expenses by 15 percent. The station paid tribute to the newscasters on their way out. Calloway dabbed away tears at the end of the evening news as Bill Leslie and Elizabeth Gardner helped her recount some of the stories she had covered during her tenure. In a tribute to Bob Holliday on its Web site, WRAL said he was known as "The Captain" in the sports department. Holliday became an integral part of WRAL's coverage, the tribute says, whether it was at a U.S. Open in Pinehurst, covering Dale Earnhardt's stunning death at Daytona, or reporting from the Final Four 18 times. Holliday had some parting words as well. "To my co-workers," he said, "working alongside all of you these past 28 years has been an honor. ... And most of all, to the viewers: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the kind words about our coverage. I have tried to represent you in the stories and coverage we have done. For 28 years, I've had the best seat in the house. I am for ever indebted to all of you." martha.quillin@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8989 |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 05:03 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1585547.html Published: Jun 27, 2009 05:27 AM Modified: Jun 27, 2009 05:27 AM Duke Official Charged Lombard will be taken to D.C. to face charges. Photographers Name in Upper and, AP Buy Photo Duke staffer held in child sex case Officials say boy, 5, offered online BY ERIC FERRERI, Staff Writer DURHAM - A Duke University researcher is charged with offering up his adopted 5-year-old son for sex with a stranger he met over the Internet. Frank Lombard, 42, associate director of Duke's Center for Health Policy, was arrested Wednesday evening at his Durham home as the result of a sting operation conducted by the FBI and Washington, D.C., police. Lombard waived an extradition hearing Friday morning in Raleigh and will be taken to Washington next week to face charges, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice. He could face as much as 20 years in prison. An unidentified informant facing his own child sex charges led authorities to Lombard, according to an affidavit by Washington Police Detective Timothy Palchak. The source told police that on three or four occasions he saw Lombard perform oral sex and other sex acts on the child, according to a press release from the Justice Department. Lombard invited an investigator posing on the Internet as a sexual predator to perform multiple sex acts on the child if he flew to North Carolina, according to the release. He even suggested which hotel the investigator should use. Investigators got a search warrant and arrested Lombard in Durham. When they searched Lombard's home, investigators seized two webcams, five computers and a sex toy, among other items. The state Department of Social Services placed two children at the home, including the 5-year-old, in protective custody. The detective's affidavit charges that Lombard identified himself online as "perv dad for fun," and says that in an online chat with the detective, Lombard said he had sexually molested his son, whom he adopted as an infant. The details of the adoption have not been made public. Calls to Lombard's home went unanswered Friday. Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld said Lombard has worked at Duke since 1999. Durham city officials told the university of the arrest late Wednesday; Lombard was placed on unpaid administrative leave Thursday. "Duke is cooperating with the investigation," Schoenfeld said. Lombard was a health disparities researcher who has obtained millions of dollars in federal grants to study HIV/AIDS in the rural south, according to a Duke Web site. The Associated Press contributed to this report. eric.ferreri@newsobserver .com or 919-932-2008 |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 05:52 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090627/NEWS01/906270304&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL June 27, 2009 'Jena Six' case ends: Remaining 5 defendants given 7 days probation, apologize By Robert Morgan rmorgan@thetowntalk.com JENA -- More than 2½ years after six black teenagers were charged with beating a white fellow student at Jena High School, criminal charges against the remaining five defendants were resolved Friday. In a plea agreement that had been approved by both sides ahead of time, the defendants -- Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis and Theodore Shaw -- pleaded "no contest" each to a charge of simple battery, a misdemeanor. While a plea of "no contest" is not a guilty plea, it is an acknowledgement "that the prosecution could present facts that would justify the trier of fact to convict should there be no controverting evidence believed." Criminal charges were reduced from second-degree battery, a felony that could have resulted in a sentence of $2,000 fine and/or up to five years in prison. Under terms of the plea agreement, the five young men agreed to pay fines of $500 each and court costs of $500 each, with exception of Shaw. Because he had spent seven months in jail, one more month than the maximum sentence for the misdemeanor, Shaw was only ordered to pay the court cost. In addition to the fines, the five men were placed on unsupervised probation for seven days; ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the attack, Justin Barker; ordered to avoid criminal activity; and ordered not to have any contact with Barker or his parents. Ninth Judicial District Judge Tom Yeager of Rapides Parish, who sat on the bench as ad hoc judge in the LaSalle Parish case, also said, "You are not to publicly or privately disavow the statement read in this court." As a condition of the agreement, each of the defendants had to acknowledge that he agreed to a statement prepared on their behalf and read by Jim Boren, an attorney representing Bailey. In the statement, the defendants expressed their sympathy to Barker and his parents for his injuries and pointed out there was no justification for the attack, blaming it on Mychal Bell. "To be clear, not one of us heard Justin use any slur or say anything that justified Mychal Bell attacking Justin nor did any of us see Justin do anything that would cause Mychal to react," the defendants' statement read. Bell "pleaded guilty to second-degree battery as a juvenile in December 2007 and has completed his period of custody in the Office of Youth Development," LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said in a "fact sheet" explaining the plea agreement. Walters also said, "A requirement of the district attorney's plea offer was that it must be accepted by all five remaining defendants because it was the desire of the Barker family to end the entire affair; failure to resolve the case for one or more of the defendants would not have accomplished that." In his statement of facts, Walters said, "On Dec. 4, 2006, Justin Barker was exiting the Jena High School gymnasium when, without warning, he was knocked unconscious. Justin Barker did nothing to provoke or cause this attack. "Immediately after being knocked unconscious, Justin Barker was jumped by several individuals who kicked and or hit him while he was lying on the ground unconscious." In a prepared statement following the hearing, Walters said, "The road to reach this day has been long and painful, especially for the victim in this case, Justin Barker, and his family. While I believe it would have been appropriate and possible to convict these defendants of felony offenses, this action today concludes the matter for Justin, and that is what we all wanted." In their statement, the defendants said, "We hope our actions today help end this nightmare for Justin, Mr. and Mrs. Barker, and all others affected, including the Town of Jena." Each of the defendants and their attorneys shook Barker's hand and expressed their apologies to David and Kelli Barker, his parents. Immediately following conclusion of the criminal proceeding, which lasted about 40 minutes, the civil case filed by the Barkers against the defendants was convened. A previously arranged settlement was accepted by attorney Henry Lemoine on behalf of the Barkers. Terms of the settlement were not made public. Meanwhile, residents of Jena went about their normal lives, some saying they were unaware of Friday's proceedings, although they were expecting them at some point. Cecil Carroll Jr. of Jena said, "I think people just want it to be over." Carroll said he is a dispatcher with an oil company and talks with people from all over the country. "You're almost afraid to say where you're from," he said, adding the incident is still prominent in many people's minds, giving an unfavorable view of the whole town. Delores Almond of Jena said, "I don't know what the outcome was, but I'm glad it's done. It seems like it's went on for a while." Almond said television coverage of the incident painted a negative view of Jena, making it seem as if everyone in town was a bad person. "We have some bad people, but not everybody," she said. Dean and Chuck LaRue, owners of The Old Country Store on La. Highway 8, said, "As far as we're concerned, it's been over with a long time ago." Dean LaRue said the couple moved to Jena just after the attack and only became aware of it after reading news articles. Neither of them is a native of LaSalle Parish, and "we chose to move here. Jena is a good place," she said. Allen Murray of Trout said, "That (plea agreement) don't have effect on the town. There's just certain people in LaSalle Parish who run things, and they're going to run the parish the way they want, regardless." Murray said the court proceedings were "not going to affect me at all." |
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| Quasimodo | Jun 27 2009, 08:46 AM Post #7 |
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I seem to recall someone who got six months' probation and was banned from Georgetown for six months, ordered to avoid locations with alcohol, etc., for shouting at someone. But that was a Duke student... (Justice is blind...) |
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| abb | Jun 27 2009, 03:30 PM Post #8 |
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http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/06/harrisburg_chapter_of_naacp_ur.html Harrisburg chapter of NAACP urges martial law Posted by sfarley June 25, 2009 21:24PM The Harrisburg Chapter of the NAACP is calling on Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to suspend some civil liberties and impose martial law in the city to halt the wave of recent lawlessness. Chapter President Stanley Lawson also called on Rendell to bring in the state National Guard for at least 30 days and to impose a curfew. In June, there have been at least 12 shootings, many of them in the daytime, including a man killed Wednesday at a busy city intersection during the lunch hour. "The Guard is for floods and natural disasters. I don't know any more of a natural disaster than of our young people being killed," he said at a general membership meeting of about 25 people at Capitol Presbyterian Church, 14th and Cumberland streets. "It's time for some real action," he said. "Right now the important thing is to stop this madness." "We're beyond what the Harrisburg police department can do. We need help," Lawson said. Martial law is a system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice, normally in times of emergency. At about the same time Lawson was speaking, Rendell was at another community meeting in Harrisburg where he promised to have state police patrol city streets to increase the presence of law enforcement. Lawson noted that there was historical precedent for the Guard to step in, recalling the race riots in 1968 following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tenn. Lawson said that many reasons have been given for the wave of shootings, such as drugs, robberies and neighborhood turf wars. Fear is the bigger reason, he suggested. "The young men, it's fear, it's just fear. They think: 'I'm going to get them before they get me,'" he said. When one man noted the presence of the Guardian Angels from York coming to Harrisburg, Lawson responded: "I appreciate the Guardian Angels, but I see what's going on in York, Lancaster and Philadelphia. It's everywhere. I'm concerned about what is going on in Harrisburg." Member and attorney Stanley Mitchell noted the civil rights organization is asking for a short suspension of some civil rights, but added: "We have the civil rights not to be shot." |
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