Local News
The ClubHouse: Archives: Local News
Grooch | Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:17 am     Since I live in South Florida, there is a plethora of wacky news that goes on down here. I need a thread to post the shennigans that go on as a way of venting. (And to entertain Juju.) If anyone else has wacky local news, post it here. |
Grooch | Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:20 am     This story is a follow up to a story from Sunday. It seems they raided a few airlines after they found out the pilots were here with fake immigration papers and flying passenger planes and cargo planes. One of the companies was American Eagle, I believe. Disgruntled customer's tip led to arrest of pilots with forged documents By David Cázares and Jody Benjamin Staff Writers Posted February 12 2002 MIAMI · The seven pilots and two airport ramp workers in Broward and Miami-Dade counties who were charged with possessing fraudulent immigration documents and Social Security cards were not caught by the watchful eye of the law. Instead, the men, all Venezuelan nationals, were tripped up because another man who tried to obtain false documents the same way became a dissatisfied customer, according to investigators. On Monday, eight of the defendants snared in the investigation appeared before U.S. Magistrate William Turnoff in Miami federal court. Pedro Agusti, Arnaldo Azara, Ramon Castillo, Luis Hernandez, Luis Gonzalez, Juan Silva, David Botome and Pedro Martinez Sr. all were ordered detained. Agusti, one of the pilots charged, will go to court again this morning for a detention hearing; the rest must appear on Thursday. Arraignments were set for Feb. 21. Agusti met with agents with the Immigration and Naturalization Service last June to tell them of the scheme, investigators said. Concerned that another man "was going to rat him out," investigators said, Agusti told the INS that he paid two individuals for a false stamp in his passport so he could acquire a Social Security card. He said he paid $2,800 for the stamp, which he later used to obtain a card. But according to investigators, Agusti left out crucial details -- there were airline pilots involved, and Agusti had acted as a middle man for others seeking the fraudulent stamps. Those details became clear to investigators last week, when Francesco Baffone came to an INS office and told agents that Agusti was his conduit to the two people who supply the false stamps. Baffone said he gave Agusti $25,000 to pass on to the pair for the false stamp, which he used to obtain a Social Security card. When Baffone did not obtain other immigration documents, investigators said, he decided to go to the authorities. That's when they learned airline pilots were among the buyers. "He was getting pretty ticked off," INS investigator John Woods said of Baffone, who has not been charged. "He was promised a green card. All he had was that stamp in his passport and that had expired." Because of a paperwork glitch, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Martinez Sr., who remains detained under alleged immigration violations. The charges should be re-filed. Another man, Luis Garmendia, is being held for alleged immigration violations by federal authorities in Dallas. Federal agents were still searching for pilot Pedro Martinez Jr., thought to be in Venezuela. Although additional arrests are expected, none have occurred since the weekend. Federal law enforcement continue to investigate the fraudulent document scheme that allowed the pilots to enter the country and get work here with U.S. airlines. "We're focusing on identifying whether there are any other pilots who would have these documents," Woods said. "We are also focusing on locating and arresting the vendor and finding the source of the stamps," he said. |
Juju2bigdog | Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 02:46 pm     Yay, Grooch!!! Thank you for finally making a thread for the great South Florida stories I love so much. I really do miss the otherworldliness of that place. I betcha there is not a single danged Santeria shrine in this whole dull burg I now live in. Ain't got no gators living in my backyard anymore ... Sigh.
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Grooch | Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 04:19 pm     No problem, Juju. I felt bad clogging up your folder, esp if they are going to be cleaned out more frequently. Hopefully, other people will have some wacky news to post too. |
Whowhere | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 05:48 am     Not in my neighborhood, but strange nonetheless. February 14, 2002 7:21 am EST GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas jury on Wednesday found Thomas Mitchell guilty of aggravated assault for shooting his girlfriend because he thought she was about to say the words "New Jersey." His attorney unsuccessfully sought his exoneration on grounds that certain words set off an uncontrollable rage in Mitchell, who has a history of mental illness. Words that triggered a bad reaction in Mitchell included "New Jersey," "Wisconsin," "Snickers" and "Mars," lawyer Maria Mercado told the court. Throughout the three-day trial, Mitchell, 54, covered his ears when he thought the words were going to be spoken. Witnesses used flashcards with the words written out instead of saying them in court. "When he has one of these episodes, he isn't focused," lawyer Mercado said. Prosecutors contended that Mitchell was troubled, but not crazy. He was convicted for shooting girlfriend Barbara Jenkins three times on March 19, 1999, when he believed she was about to utter the phrase "New Jersey." She survived the attack, but died from unrelated causes just before the trial. In a statement, Mitchell told police: "I had seen that word at my mom's house and then Barbara said what she said (and) I just snapped." |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 05:57 am     Now that takes the cake!! |
Babyruth | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 06:49 am     Oh for crying out loud!!! That's right out of the old Steve Martin movie Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Remember how his character would go into an uncontrollable murderous rage when he heard the words, "cleaning woman"? Good grief, this isn't even original. |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 06:58 am     I think attorney's will try anything! |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 07:05 am     Over at the Drudge Report: This is funny because I have seen people get upset over this..LOL (although, not to this degree) Woman Arrested in Grocery Store Flap http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11273-2002Feb14.html The Associated Press Thursday, February 14, 2002; 5:15 PM LOWELL, Mass. –– A woman was arrested for allegedly beating up another supermarket customer who brought too many items into an express checkout line. Karen Morgan, 38, punched and kicked a 51-year-old woman outside the store on Sunday, police said. Morgan was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, her foot. The victim, whose name was not released, said the dispute began when she accidentally brought 13 items into a 12-items-or-fewer checkout lane. © 2002 The Associated Press |
Grooch | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 09:49 am     This sounds like a Seinfeld episode. Oranges hide real issues in neighborhood dispute By Jeff Shields Staff Writer Posted February 8 2002 The "Orange Lady" in a purple pantsuit chewed her nails in the front row of Broward County Court, while the prosecutors, a police officer and the victim conferred outside. It was the oranges that landed her here Thursday. A couple, a bag-full, a tree's worth, which was it? Ida Mary Clappi, 5 feet tall and 82 years old, was charged with petty theft, accused of stealing "so very much more than a few oranges" from her neighbor in the Colonies of Margate retirement community. The prosecution witnesses told police they saw Clappi steal the prized Valencias on Nov. 8 from Joan Benson's tree across the street. Clappi was wearing a pink dress, recalled Charles and Louise Mencin, and she carried a Publix bag bulging with suspicious fruit. Clappi said she took one orange. Later, she admitted taking two, according to Margate police. Benson said Clappi stole all of the fruit on the tree, "well over 300" oranges. She valued the organically raised harvest at $445, including labor. But like most neighborhood disputes, the oranges weren't the only thing going on. Clappi was a nuisance, Benson had told police, subjecting her each day to "harassment both verbal and by using hand gestures." "It's a bunch of lies this high," Clappi would say after the hearing. "We don't go for this kind of stuff," said Louise Mencin, who lives next door to Clappi and suggested her neighbor needs counseling. "Age is no excuse not to respect other people and their property." "It's a lie," Elsie Kiechle, who lives down the block, would say later, outside court. "I don't know what they have against her." In the courtroom, defense attorney Sam Halpern drank orange juice from a plastic container and shared his cookie tin filled with anise biscotti. Clappi had baked them for him. "Think of me as the Orange Lady," she had scribbled affectionately in a note. Assistant State Attorney Kristin Kanner, second in charge of the County Court division, came into the court and sighed. Kanner said last year alone she was called in to help with at least 10 of these neighborhood dispute "crimes," cases where a seemingly silly argument escalated to a criminal charge against someone. County Court is where it ends up, and there never seems to be an easy way out. Clappi was headed for trial Thursday, with Benson and the Mencins ready to bear witness to her pilferage. Clappi said people frequently picked fruit from the trees in the community of manufactured homes, and she didn't think she was doing anything wrong when she plucked a couple for herself. Nerve-racked, she brought her nitroglycerine to court in case her bad heart acted up. Judge Fred Berman was ready to try the case. "We can squeeze it in," he chortled. Before the proceedings could begin, a mediator was called in. Clappi went into a side room. Benson followed, scowling. This was definitely about more than oranges for Benson. She had planned to send her grandchildren the fruit as a Christmas present, she said in a victim's impact statement submitted to the court. Her family could not afford to be together for the holidays, so the oranges were a way the whole family could share "this wonder of God's miracle of life." Her oldest grandson was going to plant the seeds to grow his own tree, she said. But most of all, Benson said, her family had lost two relatives in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, and the oranges were a way of healing. "This was a way of explaining to our children, no matter what their ages, that even though really bad things happen in this world, God still provides for us through the miracle of nature, of growing things, of bounty from the land, if you only know where to look," Benson wrote. "Mrs. Clappi stole so very much more than a few oranges." Emerging from mediation, Benson told the judge she would drop the charges. Both parties agreed "not to speak about each other in any derogatory fashion ... and leave each other alone," reported mediator Cristal Cotmon, part of a team that handles up to 45 similar dispute cases a year. "Hopefully, they can live peacefully," said Kanner, the prosecutor. "It's a shame that it went this far," said Halpern, for the defense. "I think we can put our precious judicial resources elsewhere than prosecuting an 82-year-old Italian lady picking oranges." Outside the court, Benson sighed and sat down, declining to comment in deference to the court, but offering up her victim statement and other pertinent documents. Minutes earlier, she had told the judge she would be selling her house rather than living across from Clappi. Down the hall, Clappi's anger at being dragged into court still lingered. "I'm not supposed to say anything nasty," she said ruefully, before being muzzled by her attorney. Minutes later, with Halpern gone, Clappi felt free to speak once more. "Blessed Mother," she said, walking toward the elevator. "I'm not going to eat oranges anymore." |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:03 am     You know this can be a problem in some neighborhoods. Our babysitter sells her oranges and grapefruit. It could be considered stealing if someone picked her fruit without permission. I think the orange lady (Clappi) should have asked first, if only as a courtesy. Of course, this is funny, too. I don't believe she is all that innocent. (Her son is going to grow orange trees from seeds?) |
Whowhere | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:35 am     Neighborhood dispute gone bad.......this is a local story for me. By Jason Riley The Courier-Journal A decade-long property dispute between two Bullitt County neighbors ended in a shootout across a barbedwire fence Tuesday, leaving one man dead and another in serious condition. Ronald Richardson, 52, who died near his property line, fired the first shots, hitting James Karnes once in the stomach as his wife, Karen, stood nearby, police said. Hearing the shots and his mother's screams, the Karneses' son, James Jr., 26, ran from their house to the fence, shooting Richardson twice. He said later that he was defending his parents. James Karnes, 51, was in intensive care at University of Louisville Hospital yesterday. The younger Karnes has not been arrested or charged. Before the fatal shooting, Karen and James Karnes had called police three times between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, saying Richardson, their longtime neighbor, was trespassing on their property off Cedar Grove Road on Overhill Drive. The couple said Richardson had fired shots toward their home, police said. But police who responded to the calls said Richardson was shooting on his own property, away from the Karneses. ''There was nothing we could do,'' said Bullitt County Sheriff's Detective Charles Mann. ''They were just aggravating each other. There were no laws violated when officers were there. . . . They'd been disputing over anything and everything for a pretty good while. It escalated and got out of hand.'' Around 8:30 Tuesday night, Karen Karnes made a fourth phone call to police. Richardson, she said, had a gun in his pocket and was on their property. The line then went dead. Two minutes later, she called police again and said her husband had been shot. Police said the younger Karnes grabbed a gun and ran from the house toward his parents. Police said the younger Karnes told them he saw Richardson pointing a gun at his mother. James Karnes Jr., a substitute school teacher, then fired two shots from a 9mm semiautomatic, hitting Richardson twice in the right side. Richardson was armed with a .357-caliber Magnum revolver, police said. Police arrived at the scene about 9 p.m. Mann said officers are investigating whether Richardson pointed his gun at Karen Karnes, leaving her son to act in self-defense. ''I had no reason to arrest him right now,'' Mann said. ''He's not going anywhere.'' Mann said he will discuss the case with Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Mann, who later said he will probably present the case to a Bullitt County grand jury next month or in March to decide if charges will be filed. The shootings ended a feud that began in the early 1990s and later involved a lawsuit filed by Richardson over boundary lines and whether the Karneses had changed the flow of water from their property, diverting it onto Richardson's land and damaging his barn. The Karneses, in turn, filed at least two criminal trespassing complaints against Richardson. Tuesday's events were a final scenario the Karneses had feared, according to court records and a neighbor of both families. ''I'm scared to death of this man,'' Karen Karnes wrote in a criminal complaint filed against Richardson in District Court in 2000. ''I'm afraid for my family, my dogs, my personal property. He behaves as if he owns the property we live on. ''I don't know what he's capable of doing,'' she wrote. ''I am sick with fear.'' Butch Mason, who lives just down the road from the Karneses and Richardson, called the feud ''totally ridiculous.'' Richardson ''harassed them,'' Mason said. ''He stared at their property and would shoot his rifle. Jim and Karen just wanted to live and be left alone.'' Richardson's family lashed out at Bullitt County detectives yesterday, angry that they had heard about the shooting on television and not from police. The family would not comment on the shooting. The Karnes family also would not comment yesterday. John Spainhour, who represented Richardson briefly in his July 2000 complaint against the Karneses over the land and water runoff, said Richardson was upset with how slowly his case was proceeding. ''He thought his space was being invaded by a neighbor and he couldn't get relief from that,'' Spainhour said. ''He was frustrated.'' Richardson, who was not married, was a welder who worked for Dupont in Jefferson County, according to court records. He changed attorneys at least twice before dropping the suit in December. ''The last I heard,'' Spainhour said, ''he dropped the suit and said he was going to sell the land and move away. ''This is a total surprise to me,'' said Spainhour, who called Richardson friendly. ''I would not think Ron would be someone to resort to a violent confrontation. . . . I never saw that coming.'' Richardson pleaded guilty last year to an amended charge of thirddegree criminal trespassing after allegedly walking onto the Karneses' property on Dec. 7, 2000, and filming their home. Richardson denied trespassing but admitted the Karneses might have enough evidence to get a conviction. He was fined $100 and agreed to have no contact with them. The neighbors apparently began filming each other to get videotape evidence to use in court, according to court records. The Karneses denied Richardson's allegations in court records and said they had tried numerous times to address his ''unwarranted concerns.'' The Karneses filed a similar criminal trespassing complaint last February. Richardson was found guilty of second-degree trespassing, but he appealed. The case is still pending. |
Grooch | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:45 am     Oh, Whowhere. That is horrible. What I don't understand is why it took half an hour for the cops to get there, esp since they had been to the property earlier and knew one neighbor had been firing guns and knew about the feud. |
Whowhere | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:53 am     Can you imagine?? I can't imagine living in my own home and not having any sort of peace. I agree Grooch, had the cops treated it more seriously instead of brushing it off like it was another 'orange theft' I highly doubt anyone would have been shot. |
Juju2bigdog | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 05:34 pm     Relative of mine, who I will call Momma, is now 97 years old, spry as a spring chicken, mean as a snake. Momma LOVES to steal oranges and grapefruit. When we were down in orange growing country visiting her last year she was always begging us to take her by a rental property owned by her ex-husband (the one she married at 95, but he done her wrong). There were orange and grapefruit trees in the backyard, and she wanted to hop the fence and get some. We weaseled out of it any way we could, but Momma just wouldn't let up about going to get those grapefruit. We bought her a bag of grapefruit so big she couldn't eat it in a month. She said that wasn't the point. Momma is going to come to a bad end one of these days, I'm afraid.
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Meme9 | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 07:28 pm     LOL Juju, what a Momma!!! |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 07:36 pm     LOL! |
Tess | Friday, February 15, 2002 - 09:19 pm     ok Juju--that's my second laugh this week and both are due to you. |
Grooch | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 10:54 am     Things have been very quiet down here lately. Maybe when the Olympics are over, things will get back to normal. I had to go to northern Fl for this story. North Florida man stabbed with swordfish during fight Reuters MADEIRA BEACH - A Florida fisherman was recovering Friday after being stabbed with the bill of a swordfish during a fight with another man, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. Police arrested Frank Ashmus, 46, and Garth Spacek, 42, Thursday after the two fishermen allegedly started fighting near a dock in Madeira Beach, a small city on Florida's Gulf Coast. Police said that after Spacek hit Ashmus in the head with a beer bottle and left, Ashmus went to Spacek's apartment and stabbed him in the abdomen with a sharp detached bill of a swordfish. ``We don't see this kind of thing very often,'' said Pinellas County Sheriff spokeswoman Marianna Pasha. Both men were drunk, according to police. Ashmus and Spacek were held without bond on charges of aggravated battery. Spacek was in fair condition, Pasha said. |
Juju2bigdog | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 11:09 am     We appreciate you going the extra mile for us, Grooch. |
Whowhere | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 12:33 pm     Georgia has had their fair share of weirdness happening lately. Here's another one: LILBURN, Ga. (AP) - A man walked into an elementary school and struck an 8-year-old girl in the head with a hammer in an apparently random attack, authorities said. Chad Brent Hagaman, 29, was arrested a few blocks from the school soon after the attack Thursday and held on $1 million bond. The girl, who was not identified, was seriously injured and listed in fair condition Friday at a hospital. The fourth-grade girl told authorities she saw the man coming as she and her class were leaving the library at Mountain Park Elementary just before school was ending for the day. She didn't recognize the man, who fled toward a nearby park, authorities said. It was unclear what door he used to gain access to the 588-student school near Atlanta. At a late night hearing Thursday, Hagaman told Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchum he is being treated for schizophrenia. ``I do get confused without my medication,'' he said. ``I haven't had it tonight.'' Hagaman, who lives several blocks from the school, was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault. ``He said he just wanted to attack somebody, needed to attack somebody,'' said Cpl. Ray Dunlap, a police spokesman. Students were kept inside and parents called after the attack. The school reopened Friday with increased security. Alvin Wilbanks, Gwinnett County schools superintendent, said the girl still had the claw end of the hammer stuck in her head when she was airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. Citing her parents' wishes, the hospital would give no detail on the girl's condition. |
Micknrc | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 12:57 pm     Not quite local news, but if you're like me, a lot of you like to cruise Ebay. And I say anyone who would pay that kind of money for porcelain mice deserves to be ripped off... story here |
Buttercup | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 01:32 pm     Grooch, the swordfish story even made it into a Norwegian newspaper this morning I guess we should stick to the good old trout in the chat room
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Grooch | Friday, February 22, 2002 - 01:43 pm     Hmmm... I wonder if we can find a gif of a smiley icon being stabbed w/ the swordfish?
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Whowhere | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 12:42 pm     Here's one to take the cake.......... http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/2809134.htm |
Grooch | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 12:54 pm     I heard that story on the news yesterday. It is so disgusting and beyond belief. |
Whowhere | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 01:21 pm     Can you imagine?? |
Spygirl | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 01:48 pm     I didn't click on the link because I'm afraid that is the story I heard on the Today Show this morning...about the guy in the windshield?? I will never ever be able to hear anything more about this story. I will never forget what I've already read. |
Grooch | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 01:51 pm     That's the one. |
Whowhere | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 01:55 pm     Sorry, I didn't mean to bring you all down. I just heard about it today and thought it was a pretty unusual, not to mention sick. |
Spygirl | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 07:20 pm     No foul with you, Whowhere -- it is just the most disturbing thing I have ever heard. |
Egbok | Friday, March 08, 2002 - 07:28 pm     I heard about it on the Today Show this morning. It was disgusting to hear the report but what was even worse was listening to this woman's lawyer!! |
Grooch | Monday, March 11, 2002 - 01:57 pm     BSO nabs dognapping suspect; pooch reunited with owner sun-sentinel.com Posted March 11 2002, 2:15 PM EST The case of the purloined pooch was declared solved Monday and the pilfered pet was back in the hands of its adoring owner. Libby, a tiny Chihuahua mix breed, was reported missing from her owner’s backyard on the 10600 block of Southwest 51st Street near Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 25th. In the corner of the yard, dirt had been dug from beneath a bent portion of the fence. Here’s what Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman Hugh Graf said happened after Libby was dognapped: The distraught owner, Celeste Egan searched for the pup and quickly plastered “missing dog” posters around the neighborhood, but to no avail. On March 1st, Eagan received a telephone call from a man inquiring if there was a reward for Libby’s return. The man hung up when told Eagan would pay as much as $150. The man called back over the next two nights, saying that he had taken the pooch from the yard. He demanded $2,000 for its safe return. And the dognapper warned Eagan that if law officers were contacted she’d never see Libby again. On March 7th, the dognapper called Eagan to set up an exchange -- money for a mutt. But instead of showing up himself, the man sent his brother. When the brother arrived for the drop, BSO was waiting and placed him in custody. While deputies were questioning the brother, the dog thief called Eagan again. This time, a BSO detective answered. The dognapping suspect was quickly identified as Ariel Dominguez, 30, of Carol City, through Caller ID. He was told to surrender or be hunted down. Dominguez agreed, and a short time later turned himself in and admitted the whole thing. Since then, Dominguez has been charged with extortion, burglary, and theft. BSO said Dominguez’s brother was clueless about was going on and will not be charged. Libby is back home doing well and on her way to being pampered pooch. |
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