Norma Millan speaks of the days when "I used to be active," and when her excursions through the city were a pleasure. "I used to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, one of my joys in summertime," said Ms. Millan, 52. "Now I can't walk two blocks without getting out of breath." She cited her many ailments: diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure. Nonetheless, for the last year, Ms. Millan has been journeying around the city despite her energy-sapping illnesses, panting her way up subway steps and often having to walk much more than two blocks to get to her destination. [continues 806 words]
It was a critical moment in the deadly sequence of events that unfolded outside a Queens strip club early Saturday: in a crowd in front of Club Kalua, Joseph Guzman, according to the police, shouted, "Yo, get my gun." An undercover officer working at the club trailed Mr. Guzman and his friends to their car a couple of blocks away -- giving up his undercover role and inserting himself into a potential arrest. The officer, according to the account a colleague said he gave, confronted the group with his own gun drawn. A moment later, 50 shots had been fired, killing one of Mr. Guzman's companions, Sean Bell, who was to be married later that day, and wounding Mr. Guzman and a third man, Trent Benefield. [continues 843 words]
The identities and career paths of the police officers involved in Saturday's fatal shooting of an unarmed bridegroom in Queens began to slowly come into focus yesterday, revealing a handpicked team of officers responsible for several hundred arrests between them without ever having fired a round in the line of duty. The first to open fire Saturday is a 28-year-old black man of Haitian descent who lives with his mother in Brooklyn. One officer is white, a 12-year veteran, who has made by one account more than 600 arrests. And a third, the youngest, recently transferred to the team after four years working in Midtown Manhattan where he was known for his wit, street smarts and dry sense of humor. [continues 1026 words]
Several members of my staff were huddled around a computer monitor, grimly staring at the screen. There was an eerie stillness about the group. Wondering what new bad news the Internet had brought, I went to see what they were watching. What I saw wasn't news, but it should have been. The group was viewing a presentation called, "The Faces of Meth." It featured before and after photographs of methamphetamine addicts. The "before" photos were of attractive, healthy-looking men and women. The "after" photos, taken within months to a few years of methamphetamine use, depicted those same people as gaunt, sore-covered caricatures of their former selves, aged far beyond their years. [continues 489 words]
Police Are Reviewing Their Use of 'No-Knock' Warrants After an Octogenarian Was Killed After Officers Burst into Her Home. Kathryn Johnston, neighbors say, was scared. Drug activity had moved down from the seedy "Bluff" neighborhood in northwest Atlanta onto her street. In the past year, she put up burglar bars and installed extra locks. At some point, she had gotten herself a gun. But in a case that is raising increasing questions about police conduct and the use of "no-knock" warrants, the octogenarian Ms. Johnston ended up using the gun on police, rather than hood-wearing thugs. Last Tuesday, a team of police, who were conducting a "no-knock raid" in search of a drug dealer, burst into her home. Johnston opened fire. Three officers were wounded. Johnston was killed. [continues 827 words]
Random Drug Testing Could Begin As Early As This Spring, District Officials Said Collier County Public Schools' student athletes are bright. They are well-known. They are role models. And as early as this spring, they will become the first students in the school district to be randomly tested for drugs. John Walters, the White House director of National Drug Policy, and Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon visited Barron Collier High School on Tuesday to announce $8.6 million in federal money for student drug testing programs across the country. [continues 769 words]
State prosecutors have dropped a misdemeanor drug possession charge against a Collier County paramedic arrested after a Naples police detective said he found marijuana inside the paramedic's personal bag at a fire station in September. Lt. Eric Timothy Havens, 29, returned to work Tuesday after about two months on paid administrative leave. His Marco Island attorney, Stephen Ostrow, said Havens was reinstated by Collier County Emergency Medical Services to his original rank after the State Attorney's Office dropped the charge. The administrative case didn't result in any reduction in pay or rank, Ostrow said. [continues 156 words]
Editor, The News: This is in response to the guest column "Waging war on a benign plant" in the Nov. 18th edition. As the author of this column, Chris Foulds, editor of Kamloops This Week, was either being intentionally misleading or incredibly naive. Like many others who continually espouse the legalization of marijuana, he fails to acknowledge or consider all the ramifications. In his article, he stated, "Should we legalize marijuana? Absolutely. Should we legalize cocaine, crystal meth, heroin? That's a tougher question." [continues 183 words]
Editor, The News: Here We go again! In Chris Foulds' Guest Column "Waging war on a benign plant," of Nov. 18, there were many statements which must be considered cause for concern by the thinking public. Foulds in part asks "Should we legalize marijuana?" His own answer to his question was, "Absolutely." In her article, "Whacky tobbacky issue a no brainer," on Mar. 14, Trudy Beyak states in part; "mind-altering drugs including THC the active ingredient in marijuana, are chemicals that pollute the human brain." [continues 262 words]
