:::::~News from around the World~:::::

PeacecaeP to all the members here.

This idea originally came to mind when Iniquity posted a News article from the Bay Area. I thought hey that would be interesting if members can post articles they believe is relevent to Society in these days in time. Whether it be crime, weather, politics and/or funny stories. I'm curious of how people live and where everyone on this site resides and the social impacts of poverty. So please use this thread as a way to inform us (your community) here on Wutangcorp.com


I was Born and Raised in the inner Mission District of San Francisco, Ca.

So I will start with this article.


(03-31) 10:25 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Police have arrested a 19-year-old San Francisco man in connection with the death of man who was struck and killed by a car following an altercation at a Mission District gas station Thursday afternoon.

San Francisco police Sgt. Neville Gittens said Carlos A. Alaguna turned himself in to police early this morning and has been booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and driving without a license.

Gittens said Alaguna was at the Shell station at Randall and Mission streets getting gas shortly after 4 p.m. when he was approached by three men whom he did not know, and the group began arguing.

During the altercation, two of the men began breaking out windows in Alaguna's car, which was occupied by a child in a car seat, Gittens said.

Alaguna got into his car to leave and in the process struck and killed Andrew Kelly, 25, of Brisbane. Then, he fled, abandoning his car a few blocks away at Richland and Mission streets, where police found it a couple of hours later.

"Investigations are looking into whether the driver intended to strike the decedent or if his flight in the vehicle was predicated by actions on the part of the three male suspects," Gittens said.

Shortly before he was killed, Kelly had left a memorial service for a shooting victim at the Valencia Street Serra Mortuary at Valencia and 26th streets, according to James Eagleton, an acquaintance of Kelly.

Eagleton said he was coming home from the same wake on the bus when he saw the crime scene at the gas station. He recognized Kelly, whom he knew only by the nickname "Joker."

Eagleton said he thought Kelly was getting gas but was going to return to the funeral home, where people were gathered for the wake of Rolando Valladares, 21, who was gunned down Saturday as he walked with a group of friends at Capp and 25th streets.

Staff writer Cicero A. Estrella contributed to this report. Staff writer Cicero A. Estrella contributed to this report.

Teen, 18, among two dead in three T.O. shootings

var byString = ""; var sourceString = "CTV.ca News Staff"; if ((sourceString != "") && (byString != "")) { document.write(byString + ", "); } else { document.write(byString); }CTV.ca News Staff
Three separate shootings on the streets of Toronto Monday night left a teenager, 18, and another man dead.
Four people were also wounded in the brash of gun violence.
The teenager, Romaine Lawrence, and several friends were eating at a pizza shop, in the Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue area, when a car pulled up and shot at the store around 10 p.m.
"My opinion is that this case does have hallmarks of gang-related activity," Toronto police Det. Scott Spratt told reporters on Tuesday. "At this point I don't have a motive."
When emergency crews arrived, they found a second man lying outside the shop bleeding from gunshot wounds.
That man, believed to be in his 20s, is still in hospital in serious condition.
Two other victims, one with a gunshot wound, took a taxi cab to an area hospital for treatment. The non-gunshot victim was injured by glass debris from the gunfire.
An hour later, a 22-year-old man died after being rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds related to a separate incident.
Jermaine Lincoln Brown, of Brampton, was found on the lawn of an apartment building at 235 Grandravine Dr., in the Jane Street and Finch Avenue area.
Police found his car still running when they arrived.
Around 7:30 p.m., a woman was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
She had been shot in the Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue area.
Police are looking for two suspects in the shooting, which may have been the result of a domestic dispute.
The murders are the 14th and 15th of 2006 with seven of them gun-related.
Investigators are interested in speaking to the taxi cab driver who picked up the two injured men and dropped them off at the hospital.

LB Police Seize $300,000 Worth Of Marijuana

(CBS) LONG BEACH, Calif. Long Beach police arrested one man on Monday night after finding $300,000 worth of marijuana plants in a warehouse.

The discovery was made around 7:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of West 14th Street, near Santa Fe Avenue, according to Officer Jackie Bezart of the Long Beach Police Department.

About 400 plants were seized from the warehouse where "a silk screen business was being used as a front," Bezart said.

Philip Northcutt of Long Beach has been taken into custody. He allegedly had a loaded handgun in his possession when he was arrested, according to Long Beach police.

Northcutt had a recommendation from a doctor to use marijuana, but the number of plants in the warehouse "far exceeded" the amount of marijuana one is legally allowed to possess for medical purposes.

Police also found other weapons in the warehouse including a shotgun and bows and arrows.

Northcutt told officers that he recently returned from military service in Iraq, but police had yet to confirm that with military officials.

Recently the media has covered a number of stories about Mothers killing their own children. An Incident that occured a while back and the circumstances surrounding it are very sad. A Mother of Four stripped her children down 1 @ a Time and one by one she threw them off a Pier into the San Francisco Bay, as ( This is what really is Sickening ) Bystandards watched. No one intervened. The Childrens ages ranged from 9 months to 7 years old. Once I find the article I'll post it, but for now here's another LOST MOTHER...

A San Francisco woman charged with murdering her 3-year-old daughter and trying to murder her 4-year-old son had been despondent over the breakup of her marriage and had been seeing a therapist, police said Thursday.

Linda Woo, 39, allegedly lit a portable barbecue Wednesday in a Subaru Outback in the garage of her Ingleside Terrace home. The fumes killed her daughter, Olive Murphy, and left her son, Carter Murphy, in critical condition from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.

The boy is expected to survive, but authorities don't know yet whether he suffered any brain damage, Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman said.

"It's very sad," said Inspector Karen Lynch of the homicide detail. "All of her friends knew she was depressed over her marriage ending."

Woo's acquaintances told police that she had talked recently of suicide, but they thought the therapist she had been seeing was helping, Lynch said.

"They were all trying to help her," Lynch said. "No one saw this coming."

When Woo didn't bring the children to day care Wednesday, the school contacted her estranged husband, Gavin Murphy, police said. Murphy called friends, one of whom discovered the mother and children in the garage at 370 Moncada Way and phoned 911.

Police found a note on the car's dashboard. They said the note suggested Woo was upset over the breakup of her marriage and had been depressed.

She told a neighbor last week that she didn't want to live and that there was "something wrong'' with her brain, authorities say.

Police said Woo had apparently led the children to believe that they were going on a camping trip in the Subaru, which she had borrowed from a friend.

Prosecutors filed murder and attempted murder charges Thursday against Woo, who works as a principal project manager at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in San Francisco.

She was being treated in the jail ward of San Francisco General Hospital and is expected to recover. Arraignment was scheduled for Monday.

"I'm sure that there are going to be evaluations of her mental condition,'' Dorfman said.

E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at [email protected].

Law Enforcement: Austin Police Chief Fires Cop Who Killed Daniel Rocha 11/25/05
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/...ielrocha.shtml
Austin Police Officer Julie Schroeder, the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Daniel Rocha in June, has been fired by Austin Police Chief Stan Knee. Another officer involved in the incident, Sgt. Don Doyle, has been suspended for 28 days. Rocha was shot and killed as Schroeder and Doyle attempted to arrest him for possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Although the killing -- the 14th of a minority by Austin police in the last seven years -- aroused loud and angry protests, an Austin grand jury refused to indict Schroeder in the killing. Similarly, an Austin Police Department internal affairs investigation found that Schroeder had not violated departmental policy on the use of force. But an Austin citizens review committee recommended that Schroeder be fired. The committee also recommended that Doyle be demoted, but Chief Knee did not follow that recommendation.

While police shootings have roiled relations with Austin's black and brown community, Schroeder's firing is the first of any officer for an on-duty shooting in years. The local police union, the Austin Police Association, responded by calling for the firing of Chief Knee.

Rocha was shot in the back and killed on a southeast Austin street after he and two others were stopped during a police drug operation. A struggle broke out, Schroeder lost control of her Taser and, fearing Rocha would turn the weapon on herself or Sgt. Doyle, she shot Rocha. But in firing Schroeder, Chief Knee made it clear that Schroeder's stated belief that she fired because she thought she and Doyle were in danger was not justified.

While Schroeder has been fired, that's not quite the end of it. She has the right to appeal the chief's decision, and the Austin Police Association is ready to support her. The union has called for the chief to be fired for his decision in Schroeder's case. Meanwhile, an FBI investigation into the killing remains open.

OAKLAND
12 indicted on pot-candy charges

Henry K. Lee

Friday, March 31, 2006

A federal grand jury indicted 12 people Thursday on charges that they worked at East Bay warehouses to make candy and soft drinks resembling popular goodies but laced with marijuana.

The alleged ringleader, Kenneth Affolter, 39, of Lafayette, six other men and five women worked at Beyond Bomb and allegedly manufactured a range of pot-laced treats with names like Buddahfingers, Munchy Way, Rasta Reece's and Puff-a-Mint Pattie, authorities said.

Beyond Bomb operated from adjoining warehouses at 1055 and 1071 Yerba Buena Ave. and 3960 Adeline St. in Emeryville, according to Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Most of the defendants have been released from bond, but Affolter will be in court today to argue for his release, said his attorney, Robert Byers of Oakland.

Medical marijuana advocates say the treats are legal under state law and are designed for sick patients who rely on cannabis to ease their symptoms. DEA officials say marijuana in any form is illegal under federal law.

These are Associates of my Friends

Man, 78, gets $75,000 for beating
RETIRED BAKER SETTLES POLICE BRUTALITY CASE
By Shirley Dang
Knight Ridder
A black eye, a bloody lip and a fractured rib are no way to end a morning walk.

But if you're 78-year-old Melvin Ainsworth, it might be worth a new car.

Barely a year ago, a Vallejo Police Department officer tackled Ainsworth, a retired baker, on the Carquinez Bridge.

A posse of officers had sped to the bridge in response to a 911 call about someone who looked like he was going to leap over the side.

The incident landed Ainsworth in the emergency room and at the law offices of John Burris, a prominent Oakland attorney specializing in police brutality cases.

Earlier this month, Ainsworth won a $75,000 settlement. Though his $50,000 cut amounted to considerably less than the $500,000 in damages he originally sought, Ainsworth said Thursday that he feels relieved nonetheless.

``I'm glad it's over with,'' said Ainsworth, leaning back in a velvety reclining chair, comfortable in his blue sweat pants.

Waiting for the lawsuit to end made him anxious, he said: ``I was cranky and crotchety and cross.''

To take his mind off the suit, Ainsworth worked on patenting a can-crushing device (U.S. Patent No. D510,095).

He also turned to his trusty oven, churning out walnut banana bread and German chocolate cakes oozing with cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar filling.

On March 20, Ainsworth picked up his check from the settlement. He paid off his debts and bought a silver 2005 Volkswagen Passat station wagon, complete with climate control.

``This car is so beautiful,'' Ainsworth said.

Still, when the weather's good, he prefers to walk.

san jose mercury news

Oakland Teachers Plan One-Day Work Stoppage

POSTED: 2:24 pm PST March 30, 2006

OAKLAND -- The union representing 3,100 Oakland public school teachers announced Thursday that teachers will hold a one-day strike on April 20 if contract talks don't lead to a settlement before then.

Ben Visnick, the president of the Oakland Education Association, also said there will be a large rally against state administrator Randolph Ward, who has run the financially troubled Oakland Unified School District for three years, at 4 p.m. on April 5.

Visnick said, "The administration doesn't listen too well so we have to set limits and deadlines" in the effort to reach a contract agreement.

Visnick said he also has been talking almost daily with the head of the union representing San Francisco public school teachers about the possibility of coordinating a work action with them.

"Both unions would be stronger if we go on strike together," Visnick said.

He said, "There's a possibility of a joint San Francisco-Oakland strike. We hope it doesn't happen but that is a possibility."

Visnick said Oakland teacher union leaders met with the school district informally Wednesday night but no further talks are scheduled at this time.

He said the key issues in the contract talks, which have lasted almost two years, are salaries and health care benefits.

Copyright 2006 by KTVU.com and Bay City News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The San Francisco Bay Area is falling into the Bay


WHEN IT RAINS, IT SLIDES -- BAY AREA ON THE ALERT

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, April 1, 2006

In like a lion, out like a lion. Chronicle Graphic Unstable ground. Chronicle Graphic A worker climbs under a tarp at a construction site on Bu...



The relentless rains that set Bay Area records in March now threaten to create big problems in April as soggy hillsides show signs they could give way.

"If we continue to have these continuous bursts of rainfall for another week or more, we could have hundreds of landslides -- easily,'' said Alan Kropp, a Berkeley geotechnical engineer.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service say the rainy weather is likely to continue after an expected pause today.

Showers lingering after the latest dousing Friday should end this morning, and the rest of the day should be dry and partly cloudy -- "the best day of the weekend,'' said meteorologist Suzanne Anderson.

More rain is expected Sunday through Tuesday. After a break on Wednesday, yet another storm is due Thursday or Friday, possibly extending into next weekend.

"It doesn't look like there will be any change in the pattern for the foreseeable future,'' Anderson said.

Saturated hillsides around the Bay Area already are beginning to move. In Sausalito on Thursday, a slide carried mud, a wooden deck and a 30-foot-tall tree downhill toward the city's main street. On notoriously unstable Highway 1 in San Mateo County, underground sensors detected movement Friday on Devil's Slide and switched on warning lights, though Caltrans officials said the movement was slight and did not pose a danger.

Crews worked Friday to shore up sinking roadway, undermined by a slide, on Highway 1 south of Pacifica at Shamrock Ranch, but they had to quit for the day when heavy rains inundated the area. Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder said the agency is keeping watch over those slides and will close the highway if they become dangerous.

Kropp had a burst of business in January helping homeowners cope with slides. He has seen business pick up again in the past couple of weeks, particularly in the East Bay hills.

"I've got lots of mud on my boots and pants in the laundry,'' he said.

They could get a lot muddier.

Heavy rains, combined with unstable soil conditions on slanting terrain, can trigger two types of landslides, said Gerald Wieczorek, a geological engineer and landslide specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.

Fast-moving, shallow landslides known as "debris flows" are often set off by intense rains -- perhaps 5 inches in 24 hours, he said. They strike quickly and can carry away houses, trees and rocks, and travel hundreds of yards. Particularly heavy rains in January 1982 touched off 18,000 landslides and debris flows that killed 20 people in the Bay Area, he said.

The rains that inundated the Bay Area between Christmas and New Year's Day also brought such landslides, particularly in the North Bay.

Continuous rains cause the other type of slide -- slow-moving, deep slides known as "earth flows" or "earth slumps," Wieczorek said. The steady soaking of rain into the soil -- even if the rains are not particularly intense -- can create enough water pressure beneath the ground to cause the earth to move, usually slowly, but in some cases not so slowly.

The rains in the month just ended -- which set the record in San Francisco and other Northern California locations for the March with the most rainy days -- generally were not very intense. So the deeper type of landslide is the biggest threat, barring an unanticipated deluge.

"At this point, (the rain) is building up water deeper in the soil,'' said Wieczorek, "and will be developing deeper slides.''

Where those slides will occur depends on the nature of the rainfall, the type of soil or rock, and the degree of the slope, he said. Debris flows typically happen on steep slopes, but the deeper, slower slides can occur on hills with as little as an 8 percent slope.

Parts of the Bay Area particularly prone to slipping and sliding hills include the areas in or near the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mount Tamalpais and the East Bay hills, Wieczorek said. The USGS has produced landslide maps that identify the areas of greatest risk, Kropp said, where 90 percent of all slides are expected to occur.

As the rains continued to fall Friday, some residents of the Bay Area's hillier neighborhoods were admittedly nervous.

In Oakland, residents on Wallace Street near Highland Hospital kept a wary watch. In 2002, three homes were red-tagged by the city after a mudslide.

On Friday, about 20 sandbags were lined outside the fence of a home shared by Carrie Ramirez, 33, and Evan Beckert, 38. Runoff from the rain was going down the hill on Wallace.

Last year, when people parked along the curb, the car tires sent water right into the basement.

Ramirez said, "I'm from the Seattle area, so when I came back here and saw the rain and the mud, that was one of my concerns."

As long as the water stays there," said Beckert, pointing to the gutter, "we're cool."

In Sausalito, Robert Taylor, a 46-year-old native of Australia who moved next door to a slide area three years ago, said the hillside had been stripped bare and trampled by construction workers over the past year. That, combined with constant pounding rain, he said, was asking for trouble.

"It seems anyone can build anything around here if they have enough money," said Taylor, a retired engineer, "until something goes wrong, and then the s -- hits the fan."

The record rains, mudslides and flooding are all part of a plan, said Alberto Alvarez, 84, as he walked confidently up a hill to his own home on Bulkley Avenue, where the hillside was still intact.

"Mother Nature is the boss, and sometimes she gets upset," said Alvarez, who has lived in Sausalito since 1962. "No, no, no, I'm not worried. We cannot be upset because that's just the way it goes."

Quote:

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will hold a one-day strike on April 20

---

and really what better day than that. lol

BERKELEY
Family's best efforts didn't keep party safe
Text messaging seen as a culprit in event that took deadly turn

Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, April 2, 2006


Aderian and Afeni Gaines thought they'd found a solution to the problem of kids not having anywhere safe to go, or anything positive to do, on the weekends -- they started hosting house parties for neighborhood youth.

They took pains to ensure the gatherings, which would draw dozens of teens to their south Berkeley home, remained safe. They searched people for weapons, forbade backpacks and purses, and kept a tally of how many kids came from each neighborhood, so as not to upset the delicate balance of turf.

But despite their best efforts, things went horribly awry last weekend when a partygoer fatally shot Aderian "Dre" Gaines after the 36-year-old disarmed the teen and kicked him out of the house.

It was the second time this year a party grew larger than anyone expected before turning violent and leaving someone dead. Juan Carlos Ramos, 18, was stabbed Feb. 11 during an unchaperoned party in the Berkeley hills that drew more than 100 teens.

In both cases, police said the parties simply grew too large as word spread via the Internet and cell phone text messages.

Although police say that the fatalities are anomalies and that they haven't seen an increase in large parties or violence resulting from them, some wonder whether the gatherings are a good idea.

"It's extremely common for word to get around (via text message) when you have no idea whose house it is," said Kaila Harrell, a freshman at Berkeley High School. "Normally, it's no big deal. But if the wrong person finds out, it can all go bad."

Even some who joined the Gaines family in throwing the parties have had second thoughts.

"It was a good idea to try to help kids with those parties, but they let it get out of control," said Ernest Carroll, a longtime neighbor and family friend who chaperoned several of the Gaines' parties. "If they just kept it to 20 to 25 friends, it would have been cool. But you can't have 60 to 70 kids coming from all over Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond and everywhere else in the East Bay and expect to stay safe."

Police said Aderian Gaines was shot twice in the chest on March 25 by a teen at the party.

The family told The Chronicle last week that the gunman was part of a group from West Oakland who was denied entry before chaperones relented. Inside, someone saw a pistol tucked into the suspect's waistband and alerted Gaines, who threw the teen out of the house. He returned, shooting Gaines and wounding another person whose name was not released. Police said that there are conflicting reports of exactly what happened just before the shooting but that they are certain who is responsible.

Police arrested suspected gang members James Freeman, 29, and Antonio Harris, 18, Wednesday night. Police believe that Harris was the gunman and Freeman the getaway driver. No one at the party, which was intended only for minors, knew the two suspects, who live in West Oakland, but beat officers there identified Harris based on descriptions partygoers gave Berkeley police.

The party was the fourth the family had hosted since January.

Previous parties went off without a hitch because the Gaines children and their friends would alert chaperones if someone who didn't belong showed up or if trouble erupted, Carroll said. He noted that previous parties had been marred by one fistfight, "and we ended that one quick."

But this party apparently grew too fast and got out of control as word of its location spread via cell phone text messages.

"There were at least 60 people there. I saw at least 20 arrive all at once (about 9 p.m.) but from different directions," said Carroll, whose girlfriend, Natasha Jackson, was the party's DJ. "That house is too small for that."

But Berkeley police weren't worried. They had stopped by a couple of hours earlier after someone complained about the noise. They talked to Gaines and left satisfied that everything was under control.

"The beat officer went and spoke to the Gaineses, and the beat officer thought that they had some thoughtful measures in place," Berkeley police Lt. Mary Kusmiss said. "It was well before the noise ordinance kicks into effect at 10 p.m. There was no reason to shut the party down then."

Even before the Gaines killing, Berkeley police compiled a list of tips for avoiding trouble at parties, Kusmiss said. They include common-sense suggestions like limiting the size of a party and admitting only guests you know.

Oakland police said they support parents who, like the Gaineses, strive to provide a safe environment for teens to gather, but they too advise caution.

"People need to know who is coming to these parties and who their kids are hanging around with," said Officer Roland Holmgren. "Parents should set an upper limit (on attendance) from the beginning and say this number is non-negotiable.

"Most of all, you should just trust your instincts -- if it feels like a party is starting to go in the wrong direction, shut it down."

But others with experience hosting such gatherings question the wisdom of opening your home to large numbers of youth.

Deane Calhoun runs the Oakland nonprofit Youth Alive, which teaches young people how and why to avoid violence. She said house parties -- with or without chaperones -- have long been problematic. All it takes, she said, is one troublemaker.

"Young people will go to parties and act up, and use alcohol or drugs and get in fights," she said. "The things that have changed are that everyone has a cell phone to spread the word quick and that some kids carry guns."

But Youth Uprising, another nonprofit in East Oakland, hosts hip-hop "dance battles" and other contests and has had no major problems. The events have strict rules and many chaperones who insist that the youth center is neutral turf.

"We've had as many as 400 people in here," said board member Jacky Johnson. "It's amazing we don't have more problems. But I think it's because of the culture we keep here."

Security personnel are quick to turn off the music at the first hint of trouble. Respect is given to all, and all are expected to reciprocate. That means that although someone might throw gang signs or call out their neighborhood or city, it doesn't escalate into violence, Johnson said.

"We understand that people are proud of where they are from, and we respect that," Johnson said. "But we also want them to know that when you're here, we're all family. You leave the rest of that outside the center. What we do here works because everyone knows it's a safe place."
Party tips

The Berkeley Police Department offers these tips for hosting a party:

-- Limit the size of the party to 50 people.

-- Don't promote the party through e-mail or text messaging, and ask guests to respect that.

-- Do not admit strangers.

-- Do not supply alcohol to underage guests.

-- Once guests leave, do not allow them to return.

-- Notify the police immediately if you suspect someone is armed or if there is a disturbance.

-- Alert your neighbors to the party ahead of time. Have a time in mind to shut it down, and stick to it.

E-mail Jim Zamora at [email protected].

Police in Richmond discover woman's body

Bay City News

Sunday, April 2, 2006




Richmond -- Police in Richmond located the body of a woman Saturday afternoon who is believed to be the victim of a homicide, according to the Richmond Police Department.

A resident directed police to the body, which was in a grassy area near the dead end of South 25th Street, around 3:50 p.m. Saturday. The victim had unknown traumatic injuries to the upper body.

The woman may have been killed in a different location and her body dumped where police discovered it, according to the initial investigation by police.

The Contra Costa County Coroner's office will attempt to identify the victim.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Detective Aaron Mandell at (510) 620-6622 or the Richmond communications center at (510) 233-1214.

Copyright 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. Replication, republication or retransmission without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

SAN FRANCISCO
52° F
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SE at 7 mph
Humidity: 71%
Visibility: 10 miles
Today: Mostly cloudy. Rain likely near San Francisco with a chance of rain elsewhere. Highs in the mid 50s to mid 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph...becoming southeast.
Tonight: Periods of rain. Lows in the 40s to lower 50s. East winds 5 to 15 mph.

'Suge' Knight misses court appearance

Rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight failed to appear at a court-ordered debtor hearing Saturday, triggering legal actions that a judge had warned would place his Death Row Records in receivership.

In addition, lawyers suing him plan to ask that he be held in contempt and jailed until he participates in the debtor hearing that requires him to disclose all of his assets.

At issue is an unpaid judgment against Knight for $107 million that was awarded to Lydia Harris, the former Knight associate who claimed she helped start the rap record empire with her former husband, Michael Harris.

Harris, an imprisoned drug dealer serving a 28-year sentence at San Quentin Prison, is claiming half of the $107 million as community property in their divorce.

Harris also claims he put up $1.5 million from behind bars to help start the record label, a contention that Knight has repeatedly denied.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohegian issued an order last week appointing a receiver to take over Death Row Records. But he stayed the order pending Knight's appearance at Saturday's hearing.

Knight's attorney, Dermot Givens, contacted by phone, declined to comment saying, "We try our cases in the court and not in the press."

Attorney Steve Goldberg, who represents Harris, said attorneys would appear in Sohegian's court Tuesday to make sure the receivership takes effect and to ask that Knight be held in contempt.

He noted that the receiver would take control of all assets of Death Row Records including an extensive music library including the records of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and many other rap legends.

"We are going to ask the receiver to take ownership of the music library and auction it off," Goldberg said.

He predicted this could be "a death sentence for Death Row Records."

GOVERNMENT has called for the development of Ethno-tourism, which involves attracting tourists by maintaining ethnic or cultural identities.
Tourism and Environment Minister, Kabinga Pande, said many countries were tourism destinations because they maintained their culture and ethnicity.
Mr Pande said Ethno-tourism was about exploiting unique cultures and that was how countries such as Australia with their Aborigines people, Kenya with the Masaai and Botswana with their Bushmen were attracting tourists because of their unique heritage.
The minister was speaking in Kitwe on Friday night when he officiated at the Nsakwa Yaba Kaonde fundraising dinner for the Kamano Traditional ceremony to be held in May.
He said ethno-tourism ensured that even locals that were upholding culture, benefited from the tourism boom.
Mr Pande said the Kaonde people’s culture was rich and should be promoted for tourism as well.
He denounced politicians who were advocating politics along tribal lines saying this would bring divisions among the many tribes of Zambia.
And Nsakwa national chairman, Geoffrey Mukala, said the association was non-partisan and sought to promote culture and bring the tribe together and work with the Government of the day.

Interesting^^

A man was killed in an explosion at a coffee shop near one of the city's busiest intersections Sunday.

Police said the blast happened just after 1pm at a Tim Hortons on Yonge Street north of Bloor.

Officials evacuated a block around the shop as emergency crews investigated the cause. They're still not sure about motivation, but gasoline was the catalyst.

The explosion happened in the men’s washroom and Staff Sergeant Dan Cole said the man who was killed wasn’t a Tim Hortons employee. In fact, the main suspect was the man found dead inside a bathroom stall.

“A male, whose identity has not yet been determined was found suffering from severe burns to most of his body," said Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair.

"We're very preliminary in our investigation to determine the cause of that fire...we're still determining whether this was a purposeful act," said Blair.

There was only a small amount of smoke when emergency crews arrived and there were no other injuries.

"The ceiling started crumbling and everyone ran for the door," said one witness.

"At first people just looked at it, then people started to scream and run out," recalled another.

There were early reports that a man had entered the coffee shop with explosives strapped to his body just moments before the blast, but that was never confirmed.

The explosives disposal unit was called to the scene.

Yonge Street was closed in both directions between Yorkville and Bloor and traffic was backed up in the area for some time.

Hours after this incident, another Tim Hortons at Yonge and Lawrence was evacuated as a precaution after a suspicious package, later determined to be a clock in a bag, was spotted.

IN the late 1980s, Zimbabwean soldiers fought side by side with their Mozambican counterparts against insurgents of the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) sponsored by the apartheid South Africa regime.

Many people, including Zimbabwean soldiers and civilians, lost lives and limbs in the civil war. That Zimbabwean soldiers stood side by side with their Mozambican counterparts underlined the strong ties that exist between the two countries; ties that had seen Mozambique at the forefront of supporting Zimbabweans’ struggle against colonial rule. But after the guns fell silent in Mozambique and in spite of the strong political ties between the two countries, Zimbabwean businessmen failed to take advantage of the business opportunities that existed. A few years later, in 1998, the Democratic Republic of Congo was invaded by rebels sponsored by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda. Their aim was to topple President Laurent Kabila and install a puppet regime that would turn a blind eye to the looting and plundering of mineral and forestry resources of the DRC. But this was thwarted by Zimbabwe, together with Angola and Namibia, which sent troops to defend the territorial integrity of the DRC under the auspices of the Sadc Allied Forces. The three countries made great sacrifices as their troops successfully defended the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. And just like in Mozambique, Zimbabweans lost lives and limbs in the war. Yet despite these great sacrifices, Zimbab-wean businessmen have again failed to grab the opportunities that abound in a peaceful DRC and make meaningful inroads in that country. The DRC, Africa’s third largest country, presents a vast market and opportunities, with the population of Kinshasa alone estimated at 45 million people. A lot of interest was shown soon after the war and a number of missions were undertaken to Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, the DRC’s second largest city, but these have since fizzled out. In fact, South African companies have taken over in both Mozambique and the DRC and are running the show in a big way. It is sad that the Zimbabwean business sector has failed to take advantage of the strong political ties with Mozambique and the DRC after the sacrifices made to secure the peace that is prevailing in those countries. By sending troops to help secure peace in these countries, the Government played its part in creating the environment conducive for business. One, therefore, hopes that our business people have learnt their lessons from the Mozambique and DRC experiences and will heed the call by Equatorial Guinea President Mr Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to engage their counterparts in the oil-rich West African country and explore opportunities there. Mr Mbasogo, who took time during his three-day State visit to Zimbabwe last week to address captains of industry and commerce at a breakfast meeting in Harare last week, rightly pointed out that Zimbabwe has a highly educated human resource base that could be used to develop human resources in his country so that the two countries can walk together along the path of developing their economies. It is indisputable that when it comes to human resources, Zimbabwe stands head and shoulders above the rest in Africa and competes favourably with other developing countries elsewhere. In fact, Zimbabwean human resources are in demand in many countries. There is need therefore, for the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and National Chamber of Commerce to seriously consider a mission to Equatorial Guinea to explore what is on offer there and what Zimbabwe can, in turn, export to that country. The political relations between the two countries which strengthened after the capture, at Harare International Airport in March last year, of 67 mercenaries who were on their way to the Equatorial Guinea to topple Mr Mbasogo and his government need to be extended to economic co-operation. The challenge is for the business sector to take advantage of the agreement signed by the two countries last Friday covering economic, cultural, scientific and technical co-operation to cement relations between the two countries. In fact, Zimbabwe’s business people should go back to the drawing board and look at where we went wrong in Mozambique and the DRC and then come up with new strategies. The ball is now in the court of our captains of industry and commerce to further pursue and strengthen economic relations with friendly nations.

THE biblical verse that God’s people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge still rings as true today as when the words were uttered thousands of years ago.
That is the reason why the verse, “men are destroyed from lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) continues to inspire people in their search for knowledge.
Even today, education of the mind is the key in every person’s aspirations, and indeed in every country’s desire to bring development and alleviate suffering.
Since development is often determined by the environment in which one lives, it is always imperative one becomes literate in order to be able to understand and articulate issues surrounding them.
Hence the need to acquire knowledge nowadays stretches beyond age barriers, with some people’s desire for school so overwhelming that they even sacrifice their ‘dignity’ all for purposes of literacy.
Gone are the days when people intending to study would think of age or family responsibilities as being a limitation to their advancement or even feel let down by the passage of time.
However, the coming of community schools in society has not just helped vulnerable children to get back to school without necessarily having to worry about school fees and other requirements but mothers as well have also realised the need to acquire knowledge at no cost at all.
The desire for women to become part of the decision-making at different levels of society rather than being used as objects for reproduction has forced many of them to rise up to the occasion and seek to be educated at the slightest opportunity.
While as in the past years a woman’s place was considered to be in the kitchen and a girl-child had little chance of pursuing high school studies as she had to be married off at an early age this is not so with dynamism.
With sensitisation programmes in place on empowering women with education, now the tables are being upset and the attitude towards more mothers being educated is changing.
Forty-four-year old Rosemary Mumba of Matero township is one such person with great passion for school.
“I started school in 1972. When my grandmother died in 1978, I could not continue because no one was willing to pay for my school fees,” said Rosemary.
Prior to her grandmother’s death, Rosemary sat for grade seven examinations but did not reach the pass mark. On the other hand, even if she had qualified, she would still have had a problem raising money for school.
In December 1978, she got married to Mr Mumba with whom she has nine children.
In 2003, Rosemary decided to enrol at the Matero BIGOCA adult school which was established in 2002. The programme is financed by BIGOCA and Father’s Heart International.
“Seeing women taking up influential positions in society has increased my passion for school because I believe determination is all it takes to reach such high heights” she said.
Despite being pregnant in 2004 Rosemary was determined to sit for grade seven examinations in 2005. Although her friends thought it was absurd for her to undergo the pressure of studies while breast-feeding, she was still strong-minded to make it to the next grade.
“Despite my commitment to nursing and breast-feeding the baby, I was still determined to study and sit for the examinations and I thank God I passed with good results” she said.
Seven women sat for grade seven examinations last year at the BIGOCA Adult School in Matero and according to the set standards by the ministry of Education all the seven qualified to grade eight.
These include Mrs Edith Kwabe, Ms Josephine Chewe, Ms Annie Daka , Ms Pamela Musonda, Ms Wyforce Chongwe and Mwila Mulyota.
In his comment Bishop Peter Ndhlovu said he was very proud of the team of women who wrote grade seven examinations last year. Their commitment to school had encouraged the church to strengthen its efforts in educating mothers in this nation.
“We are now determined to open classes for grades eight and nine because we want to accommodate even those who are too shy to start from primary grades. For grade eight, those who wrote exams in our school will be our priority when considering names for sponsorship” he added.
Presently the church is still sourcing finances as it is planning to establish a secondary school which will have capacity for both the vulnerable children and elderly people who are still enthusiastic on completing high school.
Rosemary encouraged mothers who did not have the chance of finishing school to enrol at BIGOCA Adult School as they would not be required to pay anything.
“It is never too late to return to school. All you need is courage because if you listen to people’s discouragements, you will not achieve anything in life” she said.
“BIGOCA has given us an opportunity and we need to maximise it. I am grateful to Fathers Heart because I could not hear or speak a single word in English until I enrolled at this school” she said.
Rosemary says she is geared to finish high school as long as sponsorship is available.
Her Compatriot Mrs Chewe , 35, said she was inspired to sit for grade seven exams last year because she wanted to achieve her dream of completing high school.
Mrs Chewe who is a widow and mother of three boys is also a beneficiary of study material and tutorials from teachers at BIGOCA Community school said she failed to complete high school in 1986 at Nchelenge secondary school after falling sick from Typhoid which had broken out in the district.
‘’I used to suffer from severe headaches whenever I wanted to study due to Typhoid fever which I had contracted at the school .I was then forced to leave school and headed back home in Matero to stay with my parents and that was how my school career ended abruptly,’’ she lamented.
Though she was married at one point she explained that life has not been easy for her as she had to bring up the three kids alone after the death of her husband John who used to work for BP filling station a few years ago.
But Mrs Chewe said that it has always been her strongest desire to complete high school and sometimes while sleeping she would dream that she was sitting in class learning.
Thank God her dream is being fulfilled through the help of the BIGOCA church although she herself is a member of the Apostolic Faith Missions Church but she found herself there as she cooks for the pupils at the community school as a volunteer.
She commended the teachers at the community school for being very helpful in providing reading materials and did not hesitate to state that she was determined to further her education with the support that she was getting from BIGOCA church.
She encouraged other women especially widows not to sit back and look down upon themselves but instead they should grab the opportunity such as this one to educate themselves because the learning process does not end regardless of age if one was to make meaning contribution to development in society.
“ Times are changing and a nation without educated people is a dead one. So I am encouraging my fellow mothers out there to take up the challenge and go back to school. It’s never too late ,’’ she laughed.
If the call for women’s emancipation has to be achieved, then the first step must start with mothers being educated so the step taken by the Matero mothers should be emulated.

S.F. police shoot two on Treasure Island after chase

Cicero A. Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, April 3, 2006



San Francisco police shot and injured two people on Monday night following a high-speed chase that began in the Mission District and ended on Treasure Island.

The two people, who were inside their vehicle when they were shot, were taken to San Francisco General Hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, police Sgt. Neville Gittens said.

The vehicle's third occupant and two police officers were also transported to the hospital with injuries sustained from a head-on collision that occurred after the shooting.

The chase began at around 9:40 p.m. after plainclothes officers saw a person with a gun standing outside a vehicle at Mission and 18th streets. As the officers approached with their unmarked car, the suspect threw the gun inside the car, which was occupied by three people, and fled on foot.

The suspect vehicle fled the scene and police gave chase. The chase went onto the highway and the Bay Bridge before ending at Treasure Island, where the suspect car rammed a police car, Gittens said.

Officers opened fire after the police car was struck, Gittens said.

The suspect vehicle then hit a San Francisco County sheriff's van and wound up on the wrong side of the road, where it collided head-on with a second police car, Gittens said.

The two officers inside the second police car were injured in the crash, Gittens said.

Gittens said he did not know if police caught the suspect who fled on foot.

Rain causing bad commutes, evacuations

Erin Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 4, 2006


Current Conditions
Updated: 11:00 AM,
Tue Apr 04
City Sky Temp
Napa Lt Rain 51
Concord Lt Rain 52
Oklnd Arpt Lt Rain 54
SFO Lt Rain 53
Livermore Lt Rain 52
Hayward Rain 53
SJ Lt Rain 53
Monterey Rain 52


(04-04) 09:31 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Rain fell across the Bay Area today this morning, dowsing commuters and sending emergency crews scrambling to shore up slipping hillsides.

Meanwhile, Caltans this morning said the Devil's Slide section of Highway 1 will be closed for at least a week after several large boulders crashed to the road Monday night, further complicating repairs from two earlier slides that had buckled the pavement.

"We've got a new geotechnical issue to deal with now," Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder said. "We've got to get the slope stabilized above and below. We've got to make sure no more rocks come down the hill. I'm going to say at least a week."

Highway 1 has been closed between Pacifica and Montara since Sunday, when Caltrans crews began working on two spots of the highway where the foundation under the road was slipping away in the rain. The highway serves as a commute route for thousands of workers who live along the San Mateo County coast.

The National Weather Service is forecasting at times heavy rains today, with possible thunderstorms -- including pea-sized hail -- hitting San Francisco at about noon.

The rain should last on and off tonight and tomorrow before the Bay Area sees a short dry spell on Thursday. Yet another storm is expected Friday and through the weekend.

"We've seen the season's weather patterns lagging about four to five weeks this season," said weather service meteorologist Steve Anderson. "We may only have a couple weeks of spring before summer rolls in."

As rains continue to drench the area, mudslides are increasingly becoming a threat to homes and roads.

In addition to the Devil's Slide closure, the main road to Muir Woods National Monument is closed due to a slide that was first reported Sunday afternoon. National Park Service spokesman Michael Feinstein said he didn't expect Muir Woods Road near Panoramic Highway to open again for several days, and crews will be keeping an eye on the area for further sliding.

And in Broadmoor, an unincorporated hamlet near Daly City, emergency crews red-tagged one home still under construction Monday night after rains caused the hillside below it to slip away. Residents of four homes below the red-tagged house were evacuated.

At San Francisco International Airport this morning, flights are arriving up to an hour and 20 minutes behind schedule due to weather, but so far delays are minimal for outgoing flights, officials said.

The Bay Area has endured record-breaking weather the past month. San Francisco had 25 days of rain in March, breaking the previous record of 23 days set in 1904. Oakland, San Rafael and Santa Rosa also broke rainy-day records in March.

San Francisco also nearly broke the record last month for the rainiest March, with 8.74 inches of rain. The record of 9 inches was set in 1983.

Today, low temperatures are expected to be in the 40s to lower 50s, and southwest winds of 5 to 15 miles per hour are anticipated.

E-mail Erin Allday at [email protected].

Mood down, weight up? Blame rain

C.W. Nevius

Tuesday, April 4, 2006


The local weather report is turning into a Russian novel -- endless, dark and depressing. When a recent headline in our paper read, "Two More Weeks of Rain,'' the mood of the entire Bay Area sagged.

More rain? We can't take any more rain.

This isn't rain -- the sky has sprung a slow leak. We saw at least 22 lousy days in March -- some places saw 25 -- and April's been just as lousy.

Not only has all that rain canceled sporting events, ruined outdoor wedding plans and generally made it impossible to enjoy doing anything at all outdoors, it's turned nearly everyone cranky and irritable. I called Steve Schroeder, general manager of Harding Park Golf Course to see whether the regulars were getting grumpy.

"We don't have any grumpy golfers,'' Schroeder said.

Just as I suspected. True golfers will tee off in monsoons that would have ducks wearing life vests. I was about to tell Schroeder that it would take more than a little rain to stop dedicated hackers, when he continued, "We don't have any golfers at all.''

"I was born and bred on the Peninsula," he said Monday. "I've been in the area since 1960, and I have never seen anything like this. When I got here this morning, I was almost in shock. There are always a few cars in the parking lot, but today it was just employees. I thought, 'You know what? We ought to be closed today.' ''

Because, well, what's the point? We could probably go do something, slog through a few holes of golf or break out the tire chains and drive up into the mountains, but that would take so much effort. Maybe we'll just sit here, look out the window and sigh for a while.

"Oh my God,'' Oakland's Andy Hess said in an e-mail. "The weather is making me crazy and depressed and I want to drink too much. I'm not feeling cozy at all in my fleeces and blankets and dog. I'm just cold.''

We hear you, Andy. And not just here in the Bay Area. Spring has been put on hold across the country, from floods in the Midwest to tornadoes in Tennessee. Things aren't that bad around here, but it has been no day at the beach -- unless you want to wear your rain slicker while looking for seashells.

The locals are well aware of the long, wet run. Evie Groch of El Cerrito insists she's "becoming scaly and my fingers and toes are starting to web. I notice friends of mine are going stir-crazy as well.''

Well no wonder. This steady drip, drip, drip could give a Zen master cabin fever. And here's the real news: You know that little dip in your mood? It isn't just your imagination. The rain really is getting you down.

Dr. Michael Terman, director of the Winter Depression Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, says there are psychological reasons for why sustained bad weather makes some people blue. He's been studying the phenomenon for 25 years and is a top expert in his field.

"To one degree or another,'' he says, "half of the population is affected by seasonal change.''

Three percent of the population will actually develop a major depressive disorder, Terman says. It's called "seasonal affective disorder," or SAD -- and boy isn't that an appropriate acronym. Although medical researchers scoffed at SAD at first, it has become a legitimate diagnosis in psychiatric circles.

Another 12 percent of the population will fight the winter doldrums, a general malaise that makes it hard to get anything done, encourages overeating and leaves people listless.

And then there is what Terman calls "the largest faction,'' the 35 percent of us who may gain five pounds during the winter and need an extra jolt of coffee to get our work done.

The culprit, Terman says, is a lack of sunlight. Our bodies are set up to calibrate our inner clock with a dose of morning sunshine.

"The brain needs this signal to be well,'' says Terman.

To keep SAD from making you sad, Terman recommends an early morning walk. Another option is light-source therapy, in which a patient is exposed to fluorescent light meant to simulate what you'd find during "a walk on the beach 40 minutes after sunrise,'' he said.

You say you aren't worried about rain on the brain? OK, how about your finances?

Two finance professors, David Hirshleifer of Ohio State and Tyler Shumway at the University of Michigan, studied 26 stock exchanges around the world in 2001. Studies have shown that suicide rates go down and tips for waiters go up on sunny days, so they wondered what effect sunshine had on stocks, Hirshleifer says.

"Our evidence suggests that when it is sunnier, the stock market will go up,'' Hirshleifer says. "In fact, on sunny days, the mean return is 25 percent. On overcast days, it is 9 percent.''

So, do we have to draw you a picture? We need some sun. But what are the chances?

"Well the 10-day outlook is very, very wet,'' says KTVU weatherman Steve Paulson. "But you know, things can turn in a day, and it can suddenly be bright and sunny.''

And what are the chances of that?

"We have nothing that shows that,'' Paulson says. "Zero.''

C.W. Nevius' column appears Tuesday and Saturday in the Bay Area section. His blog, C.W. Nevius.blog, runs daily on SFGate.com. E-mail him at [email protected].

REDWOOD CITY
Nanny to be tried on 3 child-abuse counts

Diana Walsh

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

A nanny charged with child abuse after a baby in her care suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage was ordered to stand trial Monday.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman ordered Minerva Rojas to stand trial for three felony child abuse counts at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing in which a doctor testified that the 2 1/2-month-old boy's skull fracture was probably caused when the baby's head either hit or fell against something.

"Something struck the head, or the head struck something,'' said Dr. Christopher Stewart, who examined the baby at UCSF Medical Center last month. "It's beyond the force a normal caretaker would use."

Rojas, 28, faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of all counts. She was arrested March 17, one day after the baby was rushed to the hospital from his family's Redwood Shores home.

Rojas' version of what happened changed several times, said Redwood City police Detective Mike Reynolds. But after Reynolds told Rojas that it appeared that she threw the baby to the ground, Rojas agreed and said she did it because she was frustrated, the detective testified.

The baby spent a week in the hospital and has been released. Stewart said doctors are hopeful that he will be OK.

Hone Heke's treasures go home
06.04.06
By Jon Stokes

Tears and prayers marked the return of artefacts belonging to one of the country's most high-profile Maori warriors at Waitangi yesterday.

Around 200 people, including Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, attended the ceremony held at Waitangi's upper marae to welcome home 13 taonga of celebrated Ngapuhi warrior-chief Hone Heke.

Hone Heke was the first Maori chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, and was instrumental in persuading other northern chiefs to follow.

The artefacts, which include a greenstone mere of Ngapuhi chief Hongi Hika, an axe, taiaha and a hapu flag, have returned from a three-year exhibition that took in Wellington's Te Papa and the National Museum of Australia.

The artefacts are from the collection of Heke descendent David Rankin, who has loaned the items to the Waitangi Trust for a display dedicated to the Maori leader, made famous by actions which included chopping down the flagpole at former capital Kororareka (Russell) four times.

Mr Rankin said it was important that all New Zealanders were able to view the treasures.

"The trust is the safest place we can keep the taonga where they will be protected and looked after. We can no longer keep them hidden away under our beds. They have to come out. They belong to future generations to look at."

He said while Heke was most remembered for his acts of rebellion, there was more to the northern leader than warfare and defiance. He said the artefacts and their history would help detail Heke's history and exploits.

Labour MP and Ngapuhi elder Dover Samuels said Heke was an important figure in the country's history.

"For many he is known as a madman who cut down the flagpole. That was just a part of his expression of disappointment with and disapproval of the effects of colonisation. He was a father, a husband, and a visionary leader of his people."

Waitangi Trust board member and NZ First MP Pita Paraone said it was appropriate the artefacts returned to Waitangi and would become part of the Waitangi Trust collection.

"These taonga have been on a world stage, and have now returned home."

He said details of where the artefacts would be housed and when they would be displayed were yet to be finalised.

Dr Paul Moon, Maori development lecturer at AUT and author of Hone Heke: Ngapuhi Warrior, said Heke remained one of the best-known Maori leaders throughout the country.

He said he was a gifted leader, who was a master of playing off one enemy against another, increasing his mana in a time of near civil war within Ngapuhi, and growing discontent with the encroachment of Pakeha settlers.

"Heke was one of the only people who waged war against the British Empire in the 19th century to go unpunished."

Dr Moon said the Matarahurahu sub-tribe member was also renowned for his defiance, demonstrated in his response to a £100 reward being placed on his head by the then-Governor Fitzroy.

"Heke issued his own bounty of 10 pounds for the head of Governor Fitzroy, saying he was just a tenth of the man Heke was."

Government acts to close border loopholes
06.04.06
By Angela Gregory

The Government is looking at tough new immigration rules that will make it harder to get into New Zealand and easier to kick people out.

Border inspection tools such as fingerprinting or eye scanning are among the proposals. Immigration officers may get greater powers to find and detain suspect visitors.

People who have been removed from other countries or who are considered a serious threat to public safety may be automatically expelled.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe yesterday outlined suggested changes to the Immigration Act 1987 which are being put out for public discussion.

Mr Cunliffe said it was part of a review of the immigration system to ensure New Zealand attracted skilled workers, had secure borders, and that migrants settled well here. He said the objectives were in the national interest and he hoped the "political football" of immigration could finally be punctured.

The 257-page Immigration Act Review Discussion Paper aimed to speed up and simplify systems by replacing various entry permits with visas and by combining all immigration appeal authorities into one body.

Potentially controversial suggestions included the increased use and storage of types of "biometric information" to crack down on identity fraud.

People entering New Zealand could be subject to fingerprinting, as is done in the United States, or even iris scanning. Limited voluntary DNA sampling was also a possibility.

Mr Cunliffe said many people lodged multiple immigration claims using different identities. Also, terrorists and criminals were becoming more sophisticated and New Zealand had to "have the jump ahead".

Greater powers were proposed for immigration officers, enabling them to detain people, in the absence of a police officer, and to verify and source information.

It was suggested in a "preferred option" that officers acquired the same powers of entry and search as police and customs to serve removal orders or enter and search aircraft or ships.

The delegation of ministerial powers to senior immigration officials to make exceptions to residence policy was also flagged.

A new system could strengthen the case for the automatic expulsion of people with criminal convictions, previous expulsions from other countries, or who were deemed to be a threat to public safety.

A single procedure for determining refugee status with just one right of appeal (any further challenge only available on points of law) was suggested.

Mr Cunliffe acknowledged the need for a balance between "good expeditious decision making" and the rights of individuals.

But he said in too many cases asylum seekers were buying time by relodging claims "on the way to the airport".

The discussion paper also raised the prospect of allowing classified information to be used in any immigration matter without it being released to the applicant.

Immigration and refugee lawyer Deborah Manning said such a move would "increase uncertainty and litigation".

National's immigration spokesman Dr Lockwood Smith said the review was "fantastically underwhelming".

Foreign Affairs Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the review formed an important part of his party's confidence and supply agreement with the Government.

"There is some irony in the fact that for some years now New Zealand First alone has front-footed this issue, copping flak from every quarter for doing so," he said. "At least it has resulted in concrete action."

Green Party MP Keith Locke said the review signalled an unfortunate extension of powers or arrest and detention, and intrusive surveillance, which would intrude on migrants' rights.

THE High Court has ordered the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction to return a Nissan Hardbody pick-up truck it unlawfully seized from a member of the Arthur Mutambara-led camp recently.

Justice Alphas Chitakunye granted the provisional order yesterday and ruled that the vehicle, registration number AAB7931, be returned to Mr Michael Mukashi, the acting director of programmes in the Mutambara faction. The vehicle was seized from him in Harare last month following clashes between the two MDC factions over the party’s name, symbol and assets. The deputy spokesperson for the Mutambara faction, Mr Morgan Changamire, said the vehicle had been seized by the Tsvangirai group youth militia led by one Barnabas Ndira. "Barnabas Ndira revealed that he was under instruction from the Tsvangirai group’s top leadership to seize all movable assets that were under the possession of the rival MDC faction," he said. He also said the Tsvangirai faction should comply with the High Court order and return the vehicle forthwith. Mr Changamire also lashed out at the Tsvangirai faction for using unorthodox means to achieve political support. "We are not surprised by Ndira’s disclosures and as stated in our previous Press statements these acts of criminality and lawlessness are committed under the direction, knowledge and tacit support of the Tsvangirai group’s top leadership. "We reiterate our demand to the Tsvangirai group to desist from violence and lawlessness," Mr Changamire said. Tsvangirai’s camp denies allegations that it is violent. Deputy secretary for legal affairs in the faction, Mrs Jessie Majome, confirmed the High Court order but distanced their camp from the acrimony. "Yes, I appeared on behalf of Barnabas (Ndira). It is true but the MDC is not cited in the case. "The matter was between my client (Ndira) and one (Mr) Michael Mukashi who was claiming to be the MDC acting director of programmes," she said. Another official from the Mutambara faction also had his vehicle seized by rowdy supporters believed to be from the rival faction. The official, whose name was not disclosed, lost the vehicle at the same time that Mr Mukashi’s car was also seized. According to the Mutambara faction, the move to confiscate the vehicles was a well-orchestrated plan by the Tsvangirai camp to try to weaken the rival faction. The Tsvangirai faction has also been accused of disrupting rallies, intimidation of rivals and seizure of the party’s property. However, the Tsvangirai faction has dismissed the allegations as false and calculated to draw people’s attention. The faction, which distanced itself from such acts of violence and barbaric behaviour, said it was focused on tackling national issues and accused the Mutambara faction of lying to the country and using the media to get publicity. It further added that it was peaceful and allegations by the Mutambara faction were a desperate attempt to camouflage their own criminal activities.

THE National Biotechnology Authority Bill, which seeks to establish a body responsible for managing the import, research, development and production of biotechnology, has sailed through the House of Assembly without amendments.

The proposed law was passed on Tuesday with the consent of both the Zanu-PF and MDC lawmakers. In her second reading speech, Minister of Science and Technology Development Dr Olivia Muchena said biotechnology had the potential of greatly contributing to economic development, particularly in the agricultural and health sectors. "Zimbabwe has not positioned itself to benefit from biotechnology that can be applied in the agricultural and health sectors and production of bio-diesel," she said. The minister said the rapid economic development in some Asian countries such as Malaysia and China had been attributed to biotechnology advancement. Dr Muchena, however, said there were some challenges associated with biotechnology and that included importation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and bio-terrorism. This, she said, called for the application of biotechnology in a safe manner hence the need for a comprehensive framework for addressing bio-safety. Contributing to the debate, chairperson of the portfolio committee on Education, Sport and Culture Mr Fidelis Mhashu, who is also Chitungwiza MP (MDC), said the Bill was long overdue. He said a portion of the Gross Domestic Product should be channelled towards research in biotechnology. The legislator said human cloning and bio-terrorism posed a challenge in the application of biotechnology and there was need for an ethics committee to monitor such issues. In response, Dr Muchena said according to the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), it was a requirement that a bio-ethics committee should be established and the ministry had written to the Research Council of Zimbabwe about the setting up of such a committee. She said a biotechnology fund would be established for the purposes of promoting research in that field. The Bill provides for the imposition of levies on biotechnology producers, processors and consumers for the benefit of the fund.

MMD women in Kitwe have urged Minister for Women Affairs, Rosemary Banda, to prioritise issues of women in rural areas.
MMD Kitwe district women treasurer, Ester Muchaile, said in an interview yesterday that women expected more development in the lives of rural women after the creation of the ministry to specifically deal with their affairs.
Ms Muchaile said lives of rural women needed to be uplifted as most of them lived in abject poverty.
She was happy with the new ministry, which she said had shown how much President Mwanawasa recognised women in his Government.

ZAMBIA and several other developing countries are today struggling with the imposed policies of free trade which have greatly contributed to the rising levels of poverty among their citizens.
But the answer to improving the general livelihood of the people lies in trade justice instead of free trade.
Trade justice is all about giving poor people and countries the chance to work their own way out of poverty, giving farmers the chance to earn enough to feed their families and to send their children to school.
It is also about allowing industries to develop as well as creating jobs and opportunities.
Instead of trade justice, free trade is being forced on developing countries like Zambia. This free trade is what is hurting poor people. It is not helping them at all and it is undermining democracy by denying poor people, especially from the grassroots, a greater say in decisions that affect their lives.
One would ask what free trade is? It is the type of trading within and between the countries that is free from Government intervention.
That is, there are no incentives for producers and no barriers to trade.
Removing this support and protection is devastating for poor farmers and industries, making it harder for the poorest to work their way out of poverty.
The rich countries argue that moving towards free trade is the best way out of poverty for poor countries. But the only sure way to overcoming poverty for the poor people is through trade justice.
Trade justice is the best chance for poor countries to combat poverty. It would give developing countries the flexibility to choose trade policies that will help promote development and lift the poorest out of poverty.
Liberalisation on the other hand, as a gradual removal of Government intervention in markets, is another form of injustice, which forces poor countries into abject poverty. A country can liberalise its trade policies by stopping Government help – by ending subsidies and support for local producers, opening markets by removing barriers that limit the amount of imports into the country and privatising services such as water, health, education and transport.
Stopping Government support for local producers will threaten the country’s food security and productivity. Opening up of our markets will result into Zambia becoming a dumping ground for goods and services that we can provide for ourselves.
On the other hand, privatising of services such as water, health, education and transport will be a clear violation of basic human rights.
What Zambia and other developing countries need in a world that is quickly turning to liberalisation are strong and concrete policies that protect and support their economies and not imposed free trade and liberalisation.
Inappropriate liberalisation threatens the livelihoods of millions of farmers and traders in the developing world. But what is truly unjust is that liberalisation denies the governments of poor countries the right to choose policies that rich countries themselves used to develop their own economies.
Poor countries need policies that will limit unfair competition by reducing cheaper imports and requiring companies to use local products instead of those from abroad, helping small-scale industries and poor farmers by favouring local companies when giving out contracts, providing producers with the services they need (for example, seed, fertiliser and marketing) and offering preferential credit or tax incentives and making sure investment by business benefits poor people by regulating the activities of large transactional companies.
If these measures were good enough for the rich north to develop their economies, then, they should be good enough for the developing countries as well!

Grease is a sticky subject for students
By Kevin Butler, Staff writer

Grease is the word and the controversy at Artesia High School.
Some students and parents have expressed dismay that Principal Sergio Garcia decided to grease the school fence during last week's walk-outs in an effort to deter students from leaving campus, according to officials with the ABC Unified School District. Grease also has been used to identify people climbing fences to enter school grounds.

The district believes that the principal acted within his scope of authority, but is re-evaluating the use of grease, said Deputy Superintendent Mary Sieu.

Thousands of students in area school districts including about 300 students at Artesia High School on March 27 skipped classes last week in protest of proposed federal legislation that would crack down on illegal immigration.

"I think that at that time, (Garcia) was trying to hold off any other students" from leaving the campus for unsafe areas, such as freeways, Sieu said.

Some parents and students at a meeting Tuesday of the ABC Board of Education voiced concerns about the decision, while others said they understood the school's reasoning, Sieu said.

Sylvia Gooden, a parent at the school, said that before last week, she had not heard of any school applying grease to fences. Gooden said that many students' hands and clothing were coated with grease.

"I just don't think it's appropriate," she said.

This is not the first time that the school has applied the truck wheel-bearing grease to fences, according to Kathy Frazier, ABC director of schools and the designated spokeswoman for the district. The grease appears to be clear on the fence, but becomes black when it comes into contact with clothing, she said.

The school decided to apply the grease after Artesia High School student Jajuan Jefferson was shot to death in Lakewood on March 11 by assailants chasing him in a car. During the resulting community tension,

the school heard rumors that some unauthorized people were planning to come onto campus to stir up trouble, Sieu said.

The grease was applied the next week to a portion of the fence in order to identify any persons who attempted to jump the barrier, Frazier said. Those people also could leave fingerprints in the grease that law enforcement might inspect, Sieu said.

The grease application, which had been announced to students, helped the school identify four people outside trying to jump the fence to get onto campus, said Frazier.

"The (school) administration also decided to use the same tactic during the actual day of the walk-out," Sieu said.

On March 27, the majority of the protesting students scaled a part of the fence that the school had not greased during the previous application, Frazier said.

The next day, Garcia had custodians and student helpers apply the grease to a larger area of the fence, Frazier said. He did so because of the rain and because he feared that unauthorized people would enter campus, she added.

That same day, the school told students about the grease, and sent an automated voice message to parents' phones, she said. Fewer Artesia High School students skipped class March 28, and most of those who did so gathered at a park across the street before school started, Frazier said.

Frazier said the district has not confirmed any student injuries at the school as a result of the grease.

SAN FRANCISCO
Education, race drive incomes
Wide disparities seen in new study
Vanessa Hua, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, April 6, 2006



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Asian American, African American and Latino residents of San Francisco make even less money compared with whites than they do elsewhere in the country, and middle-income residents are abandoning the city, a new study released Wednesday by the city shows.

The study also shows that San Francisco's wages in lower-income sectors have stagnated while the city's top earners have seen their wages skyrocket in the past decade.

The detailed analysis pairing workforce and economic development data, a first for San Francisco, also shows how directly education affects a city resident's ability to earn a living.

San Francisco residents with four-year college degrees, who made up 32 percent of adults older than 25, earned an average of $72,850 in 2004 -- while adults without high school diplomas earned $18,897. A high school diploma brought average earnings up to $29,955, and workers who attended a little college or earned associate degrees made an average of $39,965, reported Ted Egan, director of analysis for ICF Consulting in San Francisco.

Funded by Proposition I, passed by voters in November 2004, the study is part of a series to be released over the course of 2006 and updated every three years.

Steven Pitts, an economist specializing in labor issues at UC Berkeley, said it's vital to link economic development, which aims to attract or grow business, with workforce initiatives, which develop job skills of city residents.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said the data will help the city develop a strategy for economic development and increase and improve the training it offers local workers.

"We won't have to shoot from the hip and react to today's fight or plight. It will sharpen what we are working on and show us what we have to abandon," he said.

Pitts agreed, saying that analyzing workforce and economic development data separately, as cities traditionally do, can cause problems.

"The city and regional government may bring in jobs that local residents can't fulfill, and train residents for jobs that don't exist," Pitts said. "If you don't tie workforce development to actual jobs at the end of the pipeline, you're betraying students."

Newsom said the city is doing its "best to provide a mechanism to move people into the middle class." He cited training programs in biotechnology, digital arts and construction.

Minorities' wages lag whites' in part because they tend to have less education, Egan said.

Sixty-three percent of white San Francisco residents held four-year university degrees in 2004, compared with 38 percent of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, 25 percent of Latinos and 21 percent of African Americans.

Whites held only half the jobs in San Francisco but two-thirds of the managerial, professional and technical service jobs that make up the bulk of high-income positions in the city in 2000.

Egan also found that blacks in San Francisco made on average 40 percent as much as whites in 2004. Asian Americans made 46 percent as much as whites, and Latinos 38 percent. Nationally, blacks made 60 percent as much as whites, Asians 91 percent and Latinos 51 percent.

San Francisco became increasingly diverse between 2000 and 2004, which Newsom said positions it well to serve as a gateway from Asia. About 33 percent of the population is Asian and Pacific Islander, 44 percent white, 14 percent Latino and 6 percent black.

At the same time, nearly 78,000 residents left San Francisco between 2000 and 2004. Many were school-age children and adults in their 40s. People aged 20 to 34 flocked into San Francisco during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s.

High housing costs and access to public education have spurred many families to move, Newsom said, which has long-term economic consequences for San Francisco. But Egan's data show that larger households -- usually families -- have been moving out of the city at roughly the same rate since at least 1994.

Still, the middle class is shrinking. In the 1990s, the percentage of households earning $75,000 fell significantly, while the percentage earning $100,000 rose greatly.

Newsom said children are a key element of any city's population.

"There's a quality of imagination and idealism that children have. Those qualities of youth are critical," Newsom said. "Without families, you don't have advocates for the library, parks and schools. The schools deteriorate and you can't compete in the workforce. There is a direct cause and effect on economic stewardship."

In San Francisco, unemployment is comparable to pre-boom levels -- around 5 percent, Egan reported.

Many of the industries that traditionally dominated the city economy -- such as financial services, professional services, trade and utilities -- have fallen, according to the report. Leisure and hospitality, educational and health services, the arts and high tech have gained jobs.

Another bright spot is small business.

In 2003, about 122,000 San Franciscans were self-employed, representing 18 percent of private sector employment, above the national average. That year, about 45 percent of workers were employed in companies with fewer than 50 employees.

After the release of this report, the city will solicit input from focus groups and surveys.

For more information, go to www.sfeconomicstrategy.org.

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Death penalty moratorium supporters will try again this week to put a hold on executions in California, the state with the largest death row in the country.

dated monday april 3. from kron 4.

wow some interesting articles Guardian & Elusive

Allowances stripped after minimum wage raised, Greens say
07.04.06 1.00pm

Some businesses are stripping employees of allowances so they don't have to pay last month's minimum wage increase, Green MP Sue Bradford says.

Ms Bradford has been told of three lower North Island clothing manufacturers which had taken away staff allowances to avoid increasing their wage bill when the minimum wage increased from $9.50 to $10.25 on March 27.

The Clothing, Laundry and Allied Workers' Union had intervened in one case and the company had backed down.

Another is considering the issue but the third was continuing to withhold allowances.

"In the case of one of the companies, individual workers were forced to sign an agreement agreeing to the employer's actions," Ms Bradford said.

"At the other two companies, the workers were expecting their wage rise but when they opened their pay packets found these had been circumvented."

She said it was disturbing that two of the employers said the Department of Labour Employment Relations service had said their plan was acceptable.

"I believe this is illegal and any employers that buy into this kind of thing should be dealt with swiftly," Ms Bradford said.

"This kind of underhanded activity undermines our employment laws and efforts to improve conditions for low paid workers."

Ms Bradford has written to Labour Minister Ruth Dyson about it.

Food advert guidelines for children mean little, say critics
07.04.06
By Errol Kiong

Tougher guidelines that dictate how unhealthy foods can be marketed to children have been dismissed by critics as the industry's attempt to stave off regulation.

The Advertising Standards Authority unveiled additional measures yesterday to its voluntary codes governing the advertising of food. They include not aiming adverts at younger children, a definition of "treat food" and not encouraging children to eat or drink these foods in excess. Ads must also comply with the Ministry of Health's food and nutrition guidelines for children.

Celebrities cannot be used to "undermine" healthy diets. Advertisers have a three-month transition period to comply.

But critics say the wording leaves plenty open to interpretation.

Endocrinologist Dr Robyn Toomath, of Fight the Obesity Epidemic, said the interpretation of the guidelines at the moment was "loose and sloppy".

"If they truly follow the intent, which is protecting children and not doing anything to adversely affect their health, then all of the junk food advertising, all of the advertising for soft drinks, would immediately be removed."

Green Party food safety spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said the reviews were an attempt to stave off regulation "by coming up with codes that look and sound quite good, but are general and waffly and don't change a lot".

"It is not enough to just suggest, as the review does, that advertisers not promote excessive consumption of treat or unhealthy food. It is widely recognised that the advertising of unhealthy food to children is a significant contributor to the present obesity epidemic. If we want to improve the health of our kids then we must tackle this issue head on with tough rules that prevent companies from targeting children and encouraging them to eat unhealthy food."

But Health Minister Pete Hodgson welcomed the changes.

"This is a step in the right direction, though it's clear that we all need to be doing more to stop the obesity epidemic, which may see our children dying before we do."

Cool iPods also play stolen data

David Lazarus

Friday, April 7, 2006









IPods are totally cool for listening to music or watching videos. And now San Francisco police are saying they have another, way-less-cool capability: identity theft.

Police say a San Francisco man has been arrested on 53 felony counts of fraud, forgery and other charges related to the theft of hundreds of credit card numbers -- including those of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and a special agent in the local office of the FBI.

Making the case even more audacious, police say, is the fact that some of the stolen data were found on an iPod belonging to the suspect. Investigators say this is the first time they've seen an iPod -- which is essentially a small computer -- used to store people's personal information.

"These devices create a whole new challenge for law enforcement," said Lt. Kenwade Lee, who runs the fraud division at the San Francisco Police Department. "It's a whole lot easier to walk around with an iPod than a case full of papers."

The suspect, identified as Wilson Lee, 35, is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. He remains in custody after pleading not guilty after his arrest on Oct. 26.

If convicted on all the charges against him, Lee faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison.

Details of the case became clear only recently as investigators pieced together the extensive amount of data and documents involved.

"We're only starting to itemize things," the SFPD's Lee said. "The suspect isn't talking to us, so it's taking time."

Brian Petersen, Wilson Lee's San Francisco attorney, acknowledged that his client "faces a tough time at trial based on the evidence they have."

"The issue is not whether he did something wrong," Petersen said. "The issue is whether he was the only one responsible."

Police say they caught Lee red-handed in a sting operation in which a plainclothes officer delivered a shipment of laptop computers ordered by the suspect using a stolen credit card and a counterfeit driver's license.

The computers were delivered to the high-end Grosvenor Suites hotel on Nob Hill, one of about a half-dozen swanky hotels that police say Lee had been staying at for months using stolen identities and credit cards.

Police say Lee was arrested after he signed for receipt of the computers on the sidewalk outside the Grosvenor Suites using the name of a San Francisco attorney whose wallet was reported stolen from his Mercedes a few days earlier.

At the time of his arrest, Lee was in possession of a laptop and an iPod containing dozens of tax returns, credit files and loan applications from people throughout the country, police say.

A subsequent search of Lee's hotel room turned up a list of more than 500 names and credit card numbers, they say.

Among the names investigators said they recognized were those of San Francisco's Pelosi, the House Democratic leader in Congress, and LaRae Quy, spokeswoman for the FBI's San Francisco office.

Both names are also cited in court documents related to the case. Neither Pelosi nor Quy could be reached for comment.

"We still have no idea where he got all this stuff," the SFPD's Lee said.

He speculated that the suspect may have been in the process of uploading various files from his laptop to the iPod at the time of his arrest.

"This is new for us," Lee said. "Obviously, we're going to start paying more attention to electronic music players from now on."

According to court documents, Wilson Lee embarked on the fraud spree in June 2005, running up bills at luxury hotels with stolen identities and credit cards.

He also allegedly placed a series of orders with companies that rent computer equipment for corporate meetings and other events. The orders involved thousands of dollars of gear, court documents say.

In mid-October, San Francisco attorney David Sohn reported to police that his Mercedes had been broken into while parked overnight in North Beach.

"I got to my car the next morning and found the door open," he told me. "The car had been cleared out, including my wallet."

Within a few days, Sohn said he received a warning from a credit card issuer that his card had been used to purchase an iPod from a vending machine at the downtown Argent Hotel. (Such machines are increasingly common at hotels, airports and other venues.)

Shortly thereafter, Sohn said he received a call from a computer-rental firm confirming an order placed in his name for a bunch of laptops. He promptly contacted police investigators, who attempted to nab the perpetrator when the computers were delivered.

Whoever ordered the gear didn't show up when the computers were delivered to a hotel by a plainclothes cop.

A day or two later, though, Sohn was notified of yet another computer order, and once again he arranged for a police officer to make the delivery. This time, police say, someone was there to sign for the delivery: Wilson Lee.

"We figure he was ordering all these computers and then turning around and selling them," the SFPD's Lee said.

He said that between the computer purchases, the data-loaded iPod and the cache of credit card numbers, it appears that Wilson Lee was an unusually clever thief.

"He's very good at what he does," the police lieutenant said.

Petersen, Wilson Lee's attorney, acknowledged that a considerable body of evidence seems to tie his client to the alleged crimes. He indicated that negotiations are under way for Lee to plead guilty to at least some of the charges facing him.

"The issue is what an appropriate sentence would be if he pleads guilty," Petersen said.

He said at least three other people may have been involved in the case and noted that a video camera at the Argent Hotel's iPod vending machine captured someone other than his client using Sohn's credit card to make the purchase.

Petersen declined to comment on whether Lee would be willing to cooperate with authorities in return for a lighter sentence.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris noted that high-tech gadgets like laptops and iPods make identity theft and fraud all too easy.

"Perpetrators of identity theft are using increasingly sophisticated methods, and many serious white-collar crimes are now being committed primarily online," she said. "My office is committed to holding identity thieves accountable."

The SFPD's Lee said that, if nothing else, Lee's case highlights how things like iPods make data more portable than ever before.

"You want to think about that when you see people listening to iPods at a company where they have lots of information," he said. "They might not be listening to music."

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Send tips or feedback to [email protected].

BAY AREA
More evidence, more questions in killings
Police recover one victim's car -- body officially identified

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Police uncovered more evidence Thursday as the investigation widened into the slayings of two young women whose bloody bodies were wrapped in plastic bags and dumped in industrial Richmond and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

Sophia Sciutto-Creps, 27, of South San Francisco was officially identified as the woman whose body was found by a gardener Wednesday in Golden Gate Park. Authorities say there were no obvious signs of trauma on her body, but blood was found on her face.

Sciutto-Creps' 21-year-old friend, Kimberly Millen of San Bruno, was found bludgeoned, stabbed and dumped four days earlier in Richmond.

The two women were last seen alive on March 27, and police are tracking their whereabouts that day.

Investigators got a break at 9 a.m. Thursday, when a law enforcement officer discovered Sciutto-Creps' missing 1996 green four-door Honda Civic parked in a space at a housing project in the 1700 block of 26th Street on Potrero Hill.

"A parole agent was out there, and a resident told him, 'Hey, that car was on the news,' " said Inspector Mike Johnson of San Francisco police homicide detail.

The car joins other key evidence now in the hands of investigators, including rubber gloves, identification belonging to the two women and Sciutto-Creps' bloody purse -- all found Monday alongside San Francisco's Lake Merced.

Sciutto-Creps' mother said her daughter, who was married and had a 2-year-old son, had known Millen for several years. Sciutto-Creps had previously worked as a paraprofessional at George Washington High School in San Francisco. On the day she disappeared, she had told her stepson that she was going for a job interview.

Her husband, Nigel Woods, told police that he was concerned about the people she had been associating with.

"Sophie was a very loving wife, and a loving mother -- she was loved and liked by a lot of people,'' Woods told The Chronicle on Thursday. "I did not like the people she was around, and I tried to tell her not to hang around those people.''

But, he said, she was a strong-willed person.

"She felt like she was in good company,'' Woods said.

Woods told authorities that his wife was sometimes gone for more than one day and had been using drugs, including crack and marijuana.

Creps' mother, Irene Creps, has said that her daughter had made some poor choices and that she believes her daughter did not realize the danger involved. She said the only drug she believed her daughter had experimented with was marijuana.

Millen's mother said that her daughter had called her March 27 and told her that she was on the way back with her friend after visiting friends in Oakland.

Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said investigators have yet to locate where the two women were killed.

"We don't have any evidence as to where she (Millen) was killed,'' Gagan said. "She could have been killed a hundred yards away or a hundred miles away. It's really hard to know.''

"Normally,'' he said, "as cases go forward, we eliminate people and angles and the evidence paints a picture. In this case, the more evidence that is located, the more witness statements we take, the more questions we have.''

Gagan said that locating the murder scene will be crucial to the case. "Our victim had dozens of stab wounds and blunt-force trauma,'' he said, indicating that it would be very difficult to conceal all the evidence left behind at the murder scene.

E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at [email protected].

FUGITIVES from justice will soon have no hiding place as steps are being taken to harmonise legal systems in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), in addition to strengthening domestic regulatory and supervisory systems for the monitoring and detection of organised crime in United Nations member-states

To this end, last Wednesday, the House of Assembly ratified two protocols that deal with crime in the region and abroad. The first was the Sadc Protocol on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters that provides wide measures for legal co-operation between member-states in criminal matters. The second was the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime that promotes effective co-operation among member-states in combating and preventing cross-border organised crime. The UN convention provides for the extradition of suspects wanted in connection with organised crime, including corruption. Legislators from both sides of the House consented to the protocols. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa told the House that the Sadc protocol would clear some of the legal hurdles that were faced when suspects wanted in connection with corruption fled to neighbouring countries. The minister said the document was central to efforts to harmonise legal systems in the region. He said any disputes between member-states in relation to mutual legal assistance would be referred to the tribunal for arbitration. Contributing to the debate, Mr David Coltart (MDC, Bulawayo South) said the opposition welcomed the Sadc protocol. "Our law enforcement agencies have had problems in combating crime that goes beyond our borders. This is good and a welcome addition to our statutes," said Mr Coltart. The Sadc protocol provides for co-operation in investigations, prosecutions or proceedings relating to offences involving transnational organised crime and corruption. Assistance shall be provided without regard to whether the conduct under investigation or prosecution in the requesting state constitutes an offence under the laws of the requested state. The protocol will go a long way in enabling Zimbabwean police to facilitate prosecution of suspects wanted in connection with corruption who have taken refuge in some Sadc countries, particularly South Africa. Member-states are obliged to facilitate the appearance of witnesses or the assistance of persons in investigations as well as taking measures to freeze or forfeit the proceeds of crime. Upon request, a person in custody in the requested state shall be temporarily transferred to the requesting state to assist investigations or testify, provided that the person consents. When the person transferred is required to be kept in custody under the law of the requested state, the requesting state shall hold that person in custody and shall return the person at the conclusion of the execution of the request. The requested state shall also execute a request for the search, seizure and delivery of property to the requesting state if the request includes information justifying such action under its laws. However, the protocol shall not apply to the arrest or detention of a person with a view to extradition or the transfer of persons in custody to serve sentences. It shall also not apply to enforcement in the requested state of criminal judgments imposed in the requesting state except to the extent permitted by the laws of the requested state. The UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime requires member-countries to establish domestic regulatory and supervisory systems for the monitoring and detection of organised crime. The convention also provides for the confiscation and seizure of proceeds from transnational organised crime. State parties may consider the possibility of requiring that an offender demonstrate the lawful origin of alleged proceeds of crime or other property liable to confiscation. Proceeds of crime or property confiscated by a state party shall be disposed of in accordance with its domestic law and administrative procedures. The extradition of suspects shall be subject to the conditions provided by the domestic law of the requested state or applicable extradition treaties, including conditions in relation to the minimum penalty for extradition. Moving a motion for the ratification of the convention, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cde Reuben Marumahoko told the House that the document was an effective legal tool in combating various forms of organised crime that included terrorism. Cde Marumahoko said the UN had created a fund to provide technical assistance in the implementation of the convention.

Huge Block Of Ice Falls From Sky In Oakland

POSTED: 10:54 am PDT April 9, 2006
UPDATED: 11:16 am PDT April 9, 2006

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even the experts are having trouble explaining a solid block of ice that fell from the sky, crashed into earth and left behind a three-foot hole in the grass.

The ice fell at Bushrod Park in Oakland early Saturday when homeowner Jacek Purat of Berkeley was waiting nearby to show apartments to prospective renters.

"It was totally amazing. ... I saw this flash, like a streak. Then I saw this explosion, like a big boom! I came over and it (the field) was all covered with ice. Some were this big," Purat said, making a head-size circle with his two hands.

Brooks and Judith Mencher said they were standing on their back porch near the park when they heard a sound like a very loud rocket. "It kind of went 'whoosh!"' Brooks Mencher said.

The impact "knocked turf 20 feet away," according to Oakland Police Sgt. Ron Lighten. No one was injured.

Lt. Charles Glass of the Oakland Fire Hazardous Materials Team said the ice was pure water. "It didn't come from a toilet on a plane or anything like that."

Glass said the ice that firefighters pulled from the hole was about the same size of the hole -- three by three feet and two and a half feet deep.

Tony Hirsch, a Columbus, Ohio-based aviation expert, said ice falls of pure water are not uncommon: "Ice builds up on airplanes and falls off as they prepare to land."

But Hirsch said the airplane "would have to descend through what we call visible moisture, rain or clouds, for ice to build up." The skies were partly cloudy Saturday morning.

He said a large chunk of ice could build up on the vertical stabilizer or in a wheel well: "When they lower their landing gear, it falls off."

The National Weather Service said San Francisco Bay area storms haven't been violent enough to hatch a gigantic hailstone on its own. "There's nothing meteorological that would create a piece that big falling into Oakland," said weather service forecaster Diana Henderson.

It could simply be an unexplained "ice fall," one expert said. Big balls of ice sometimes fall from the sky without any real explanation.
Copyright 2006 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Quick Hits: Election Tab, Fed Funds, Gloves Off

* Watchdog Funding Defeated: Meantime, a bill to restore full funding to the state's campaign watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, was defeated in the Senate Elections Committee. SB 1120 (Ortiz) would have raised funding for the FPPC-- an agency whose total budget is about the same as it was 15 years ago, but whose caseload has increased while staff positions have been cut. Last fall, the FPPC had to close the books on political violation cases that may have been winnable, due to lack of funding.

* We Jail 'Em, Now Pay Up: California and 13 other states today called on Congress to provide more money to cover the costs of prisoners who are illegal immigrants. In 1990, the feds created a program to reimburse states, the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). But full SCAAP funding has often been one of the casualties of the federal budget process. It's estimated that California spends some $750 million a year on these prisoners, while receiving only $121 million in reimbursements in 2005. Today's letter, signed by Schwarzenegger and 13 other governors, asks for $850 million in the 2007 fiscal year for the SCAAP program. "It is imperative," said Schwarzenegger in a news release, "that states receive financial assistance for the continued costs associated with the federal government's failure to secure the border." posted by John Myers at 4:03 PM