Effectiveness of D.C. gun ban still a mystery The Washington Post / November 18, 2007 WASHINGTON - Three decades ago, at the dawn of municipal self-government in the District of Columbia, the city's first elected mayor and council enacted one of the country's toughest gun-control measures, a ban on handgun ownership that opponents have long said violates the Second Amendment. All these years later, with the constitutionality of the ban now probably headed for a US Supreme Court review, a much-debated practical question remains unsettled: Has a law aimed at reducing the number of handguns in the District made city streets safer? Although studies through the decades have reached conflicting conclusions, this much is clear: The ban, passed with strong public support in 1976, has not accomplished everything the mayor and council of that era wanted it to. Over the years, gun violence has continued to plague the city, reaching staggering levels at times. In making by far their boldest public policy decision, Washington's first elected officials wanted other jurisdictions, especially neighboring states, to follow the lead of the nation's capital by enacting similar gun restrictions, cutting the flow of firearms into the city from surrounding areas. "We were trying to send out a message," recalled Sterling Tucker, the council chairman at the time. Nadine Winters, also a council member then, said, "My expectation was that this being Washington, it would kind of spread to other places, because these guns, there were so many of them coming from Virginia and Maryland.“ It didn't happen. Guns kept coming. And bodies kept falling.

PSL mother's filthy house leads to child neglect charges Friday, November 16, 2007 Children removed from feces-ridden home PORT ST. LUCIE — Trash, dirty clothing, feces and overturned furniture filled a home where three young children lived with their mother, who was arrested on charges of child neglect Wednesday, according to a police report released Thursday. Jaileen Lorraine Soliman, 25, of the 1500 block of Southwest Birkey Avenue, was arrested on charges of child neglect after police allege she was living in squalor with her three children, who were removed from her custody. Investigators report they found several pets running loose — including a pit bull and a pot bellied pig — and pet and human feces on the floor and on furniture. Trash, dirty clothing and bugs were also was all over the house, according to the report. Police and a representative from the state Department of Children & Families went to the home as a result of a complaint to DCF. There they found cat and dog feces on the porch, on the floor and on furniture — including a high chair. When police entered the home, they finally found Soliman and three children hiding in a room, according to the report. Police said she told them she didn't answer when they called because she was "afraid of the police," according to the report. ………..*Slide 1 of 6

Police officials were "blown away" when they walked into the home, said Port St. Lucie Police spokesman Robert Vega. "I think the thing that stuck out is when they opened the door and the overwhelming smell of urine and feces because ... the air conditioning was turned off and it was quite hot in there and there was just feces all over the floors, the walls, the kitchen sink, it was in every single room," Vega said. The three children — ages 10, 7 and 1 — were dirty and at least one of the children had insect bites covering his body, according to the report. A DCF report given to police officers said the two older children have not been in school for the past two months. Soliman pulled the children out after her 7-year-old daughter was suspended from school for a week and she decided not to let them go back to school, according to the report. She is home schooling the children, but her methods are in question, according to the report. The report also said if the children did not do their chores, Soliman would not feed them breakfast, lunch or dinner. The children were removed from the home and turned over to a family member. Police also removed eight cats — with several more still on the property — a pot bellied pig, a pit bull and a bird from the property, which police say was rented from a family member. The animals were seized by Port St. Lucie Animal Control. "She appeared surprised she was being arrested for child neglect," Vega said. "She did tell us she was in the process of moving and that's why a lot of things were in boxes, but that certainly wouldn't account for the amount of garbage and feces that was throughout the entire home." Soliman was arrested on three charges of child neglect and transported to the St. Lucie County Jail. She remains in jail in lieu of $7,500 bail. ……………..*See photo’s next (4) slides.

The following subjects have been convicted of offenses related to prostitution in San Diego Superior Court, East County Branch. They are currently on Court Probation with conditions including geographic restrictions within certain areas of the City Of El Cajon. If you see these people in the restricted areas, please: Call the El Cajon PD non emergency line 619-579-3311 to make a report. An officer will contact you and attempt to contact the suspect. If the suspect is not arrested for a new charge the officer will instruct the suspect to leave the area and a report of the incident will be forwarded to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office requesting the suspect’s probation be revoked. ……………..*Photo’s next slide:

The following subjects have been convicted of offenses related to prostitution in San Diego Superior Court, East County Branch. They are currently on Court Probation with conditions including geographic restrictions within certain areas of the City Of El Cajon. If you see these people in the restricted areas, please: Call the El Cajon PD non emergency line 619-579-3311 to make a report. An officer will contact you and attempt to contact the suspect. If the suspect is not arrested for a new charge the officer will instruct the suspect to leave the area and a report of the incident will be forwarded to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office requesting the suspect’s probation be revoked. ……………..*Photo’s next slide:

Historic Whiskey Could Go Down Drain Associated Press Thursday, November 15, 2007 Nashville, Tenn. (AP) -- Here's a sobering thought: Hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey, some of it almost 100 years old, may be unceremoniously poured down a drain because authorities suspect it was being sold by someone without a license. Officials seized 2,400 bottles late last month during warehouse raids in Nashville and Lynchburg, the southern Tennessee town where the whiskey is distilled. Investigators are also looking into whether some of the bottles had been stolen from the distillery. No one has been arrested. Authorities are still determining how much of the liquor will be disposed of, and how much can be sold at auction. Tennessee law requires officials to destroy whiskey that cannot be sold legally in the state, such as bottles designed for sale overseas and those with broken seals. The estimated value of the liquor is $1 million, possibly driven up by the value of the antique bottles, which range from 3-liter bottles to half-pints. One seized bottle dates to 1914, with its seal unbroken. Elks said it is worth $10,000 on the collectors market. Investigators are looking into whether the liquor was being sold for the value of the bottles rather than the whiskey. Tennessee whiskeys age in charred white oak barrels, but the maturing process that gives them character mostly stops when it is bottled. A bottled whiskey can deteriorate over a long period of time, especially if it is opened or exposed to sunlight and heat. "A lot of these bottles are priceless," he said. "It's like having a rare painting. It's heavily collected." The raids, prompted by a tip, were conducted at two warehouses and a home in Lynchburg, about 65 miles southeast of Nashville. Another raid was at a Nashville hotel room where drinks were being served and bottles were being sold. For now, the whiskey is being stored in a Nashville vault. Elks acknowledged that pouring out the whiskey would not be a happy hour for her. "It'd kill me," she said.

In this Oct. 10, 2007 file photo released by Virgin America, Sir Richard Branson welcomes aboard Kyla Ebbert from San Diego, Calif., on Virgin America's first flight to Las Vegas. Ebbert, was kicked-off a Southwest Airlines flight for her provocative clothing, and was welcomed with open arms by Virgin America at San Francisco International Airport. Kyla Ebbert is set to appear in a series of pictures in Playboy magazine under the heading, 'Legs in the Air'.

Tree man 'who grew roots' may be cured Last Updated: 10:10am GMT 13/11/2007 An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor - and Vitamin A.Dede, now 35, baffled medical experts when warty "roots" began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in a teenage accident.

The welts spread across his body unchecked and soon he was left unable to carry out everyday household tasks. Sacked from his job and deserted by his wife, Dede has been raising his two children - now in their late teens - in poverty, resigned to the fact that local doctors had no cure for his condition. To make ends meet he even joined a local "freak show", parading in front of a paying audience alongside victims of other peculiar diseases. Although supported by his extended family, he was often a target of abuse and ridicule in his rural fishing village. But now an American dermatology expert who flew out to Dede's home village south of the capital Jakarta claims to have identified his condition, and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.

After testing samples of the lesions and Dede's blood, Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers. Dede's problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts. The virus was therefore able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells", ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns" on his hands and feet. Dede's counts of a key type of white blood cell are so low that Dr Gaspari initially suspected he may have the Aids virus. But tests showed he did not, and it became clear that Dede's immune condition was something far rarer and more mysterious. Warts aside, he had enjoyed remarkable good health throughout his life - which would not be expected of someone with a suppressed immune system - and neither his parents nor his siblings have shown signs of developing lesions. "The likelihood of having his deficiency is less than one in a million," Dr Gaspari told the Telegraph.

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