| NEWS of the Day - September 15, 2011 |
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on some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood activist across the country
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view ...
We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ... |
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From the Los Angeles Times
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Botulism cases blamed on black tar heroin
Two people have been hospitalized in the Seattle area with suspected cases of botulism probably contracted by injecting black tar heroin.
Four additional cases have been reported in Texas over the last few weeks, said health officials, who warned that serious, untreated cases could result in paralysis of breathing muscles and death.
"There is no way for a person on the street to tell if black tar heroin is contaminated, nor any way to clean it to make it safe," Jeff Duchin, chief of communicable disease epidemiology for the Seattle and King County Public Health Department, said in a statement.
Black tar heroin, produced in Latin America and sold mainly in Western U.S. states, is a cruder, less-refined form of heroin that contains more morphine derivatives than pure heroin. When injected under the skin or into the muscles, the botulinum neurotoxin can fester and grow in the wound, producing potentially deadly infection, health officials say.
California has had 17 injection-drug-related cases since 1997, about three-fourths of all cases in the U.S., state officials reported this year in the online journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. All the California cases involved heroin users.
Early hospital treatment with antitoxin is usually successful, though King County officials, who have an information page about how to avoid infection, said it may take several days to two weeks for symptoms to develop -- blurred vision, difficulty speaking or swallowing, fatigue and dizziness
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/
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Editorial
America the poor
A new Census Bureau report shows the extent of hard times, and just how vital a tattered safety net has become.
September 15, 2011
The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that almost 1 in 6 Americans was living below the federal poverty line in 2010, the highest percentage since 1993 and the largest number in at least five decades. The same day, the head of the Congressional Budget Office told a newly created deficit-reduction committee that the federal government couldn't sustain the services it had been providing for decades without major reductions in other spending, significant increases in taxes or both.
As distressing as those presentations were, they merely reinforced what is already common knowledge: The economy is in terrible shape, and the federal government can't afford to do much to help. Even if it could, the efforts by the Bush and Obama administrations since 2008 show how hard it is for Washington to revive an economy stalled by a financial crisis, even if it is willing to spend billions of dollars trying. The best one can say is that things would have been worse had Washington not pumped cash into banks and credit markets, state and local governments, and taxpayers' wallets. Just because government officials can't wave a magic wand over the economy to fix it, however, policymakers shouldn't use that as an excuse to make things worse.
One lesson from the Census Bureau's report is how important the federal safety net is during a downturn. Unemployment insurance, food stamps and tax credits for the working poor lifted the incomes of 3 million to 5 million U.S. households above the poverty line in 2010. These programs are embattled because they're costly, but they're also proving their worth as a buffer against the ravages of the downturn.
Another lesson is that the recession amplified some disturbing trends that had emerged long before the subprime mortgage meltdown. The rapid rise in poverty from 2008 through 2010 is emblematic of how much worse those at the lower end of the income scale have fared than those at the upper end, in bad times or good. Over the long term, more of the country's income and assets have been steadily concentrated in fewer hands. Folks in the middle saw disproportionate losses too. Median household income fell more than $1,100 in 2010, and is down 7% from its peak in 1999.
The data provide the context for lawmakers as they evaluate President Obama's jobs proposal and the mandate in the recent debt-ceiling deal to slash spending by at least $2.4 trillion over the coming decade. The problem goes beyond the current downturn; it's meek, bubble-fueled growth that stretches back for years. No matter who has been in power, the government's attempts to spur growth haven't translated into a sustainable improvement in the lives of most Americans. That's the real challenge posed by the Census Bureau's numbers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-poverty-20110915,0,347465,print.story
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From Google News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police: Human Remains Found in Search for Utah Mom
Nearly two years after a mother vanished, her friends and family are waiting to learn whether her case may have seen a major break after authorities discovered human remains during their latest search for clues in the Utah desert.
Susan Powell was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job. The case has cast a harsh spotlight on Powell's husband, who remains the only person of interest but has never been arrested or charged.
It wasn't immediately known if the remains found Wednesday belonged to Susan Powell, or if they were even female. Authorities planned to resume their investigation Thursday morning.
"It's a game of patience at this point," West Valley City Sgt. Mike Powell said. "We need to slow down a little bit and identify what it is we found."
Meanwhile, friends and family waited and prayed.
Kiirsi Hellewell, a close friend of the missing woman, said the discovery of remains brought a sense of hope that the case might finally move forward but also sadness that she might really be dead.
"It's always a mixture of emotions because we've been down this road before with the discovery of bodies and remains," Hellewell said. "It's like a seesaw because we also don't want to find out that she's dead."
In May, speculation swirled that remains found in the desert about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City might have been those of Powell, but authorities later said it was a young adult male.
Authorities have been searching since Monday in the area near Topaz Mountain in Juab County. The site is about 135 miles southwest of the location where Susan Powell was last seen where she lived in West Valley City.
Last month, investigators searched mine shaft-dotted mountains near Ely, Nev., and later served a search warrant at the Puyallup, Wash., home that her husband, Josh Powell, shares with his father, seizing computers and journals.
This latest search is in an area popular for gem and rock hunters. Police have said Powell's husband liked to rock hunt in the area.
"From the very beginning he clearly indicated he had been in and around the area," said Sgt. Powell, who is not related to the family of the missing woman.
Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, expressed doubt that the remains belonged to his daughter. He said that would mean whoever took her would have had to dump her body in the middle of a high desert freezing winter where the ground would have been covered in snow and frozen solid.
"We're just waiting," he said Wednesday evening.
Josh Powell didn't return telephone calls. He believes his wife ran off with another man and has told police he left her at home about 12:30 a.m. on that Dec. 7 to go winter camping in freezing temperatures with their young sons — then 4 and 2 — about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. The 4-year-old confirmed the trip to police.
Over the past weeks, the case has taken salacious turns as family members on both sides sparred over truth and fiction, and accusations of sex and lies.
Josh Powell's family claims Susan Powell was sexually promiscuous, emotionally unstable and suicidal. They were offering as proof several diary pages from the missing woman's teenage years. Her family says the entries were written by a young girl still growing up and have no bearing on her disappearance. They got a temporary order in a Washington court prohibiting the Powells from distributing them.
Josh Powell has mostly remained quiet throughout the investigation, and police say he hasn't been cooperative.
But in a string of national television interviews in August, Josh Powell denied having anything to do with her disappearance.
In another strange twist, Steve Powell, Josh's father, said he and Susan Powell were falling in love and even implied a sexual relationship had occurred.
Susan's father, Chuck Cox, said the allegations are false. He claims it was Steve Powell who initiated unwanted sexual advances, and that his daughter had no interest in her father-in-law.
The feuding between the two sides got so heated that a court commissioner in Washington state ordered Chuck Cox and Josh Powell to keep 500 feet apart.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-human-remains-found-search-utah-mom-14524805
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California
San Ramon Gets $100K State Grant to Offset Youth Resource Officer's Salary
The total cost to fund the youth and community resource officer position is $214,650 a year.
by Jennifer Wadsworth San Ramon got a six-figure grant from the state to help pay for a youth and community resource officer.
The annual $100,000 grant comes from the State Controller's Office to help pay for preventative youth and community policing.
Locally, the money will pay for some of the $214,650 San Ramon shells out every year for its Community and Youth Resource Officer Mike Schneider. He's the man in charge of policing crimes committed by minors and administering the city's Juvenile Diversion Program, which aims to get law-breaking kids back on track.
The city teams up with schools, parents and others to enforce the youth resource program, according to the San Ramon Police Department website:
| The Youth Resource Program is a collaborative effort between the Police Department and the Parks and Community Services Department, in partnership with the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, the California State Youth Employment and Development, parents, local businesses, and the community as a whole. The program was started under the premise of merging a community policing philosophy with the preventive nature of recreation and community services programs. This state grant funded program has a SRPD officer assigned to work with these agencies to provide early intervention and education to those vulnerable youth in middle school and high school. |
The goal behind San Ramon's youth resource program is to steer youngsters away from a life of crime. Schneider works with parents and troubled teens to come up with a plan to get kids back on track.
The city outlines the program on its website:
| In San Ramon, Juvenile Diversion begins with an assessment meeting involving the child, a parent, the Youth Resource Officer, and a family therapist. The officer and therapist discuss the student's attitude, school performance, and family problems. Young people who decide to join the program, along with a parent, sign a diversion contract that maps out community service requirements and other requirements for the juvenile to fulfill. The diversion probation typically lasts between six months and a year and often includes a referral to an anger management class, drug and alcohol abuse counseling, or family therapy. |
Money is awarded to cities based on population and need, according to a city staff report. The minimum a municipality can receive is $100,000.
City Council on Tuesday accepted and allocated the money. Check out the attached PDF to read the entire staff report.
http://sanramon.patch.com/articles/san-ramon-gets-100k-state-grant-for-community-policing |
