Mayor says NYC too noisy, plans crackdown

By: North County Times - | Monday, June 7, 2004 9:33 PM PDT ∞

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's great that New York is the city that never sleeps, but the reason should not be incessant pounding, blaring and buzzing, the mayor says.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed to rewrite the city's noise regulations to deal with the leading complaint about the city's quality of life.

"Noise disturbs our sleep, prevents people from enjoying their time off from work and too often leads to altercations," he said.

Bloomberg's proposed changes cover noise makers from pile drivers to air conditioners -- as well as anything else deemed by police to be too "plainly audible."

The changes would mandate noise management plans at construction sites, and require portable sound barriers and noise jackets for jackhammers and other loud tools.

Bloomberg said he also wants to make 45 decibels the upper limit for all the noise coming from any new building's air conditioners -- a limit that falls between a whisper, about 20 decibels, and busy street traffic, about 70 decibels.

Current law demands only that no single unit exceed 45 decibels. Existing buildings that are over that level would have to drop 5 decibels.

Another revision would allow police officers to write noise tickets without using meters to measure sound. Instead, they would rely on a "plainly audible" standard.

The changes would also prohibit any sound that increases the ambient noise inside a residence by 10 decibels during the day and 7 decibels at night and would cover everything from barking dogs to car alarms and ice cream trucks.

The City Council will hold hearings on the noise legislation this summer.

This is Bloomberg's second attempt to fight noise in the city. In October 2002, the mayor announced a crackdown on loud bars, cars and motorcycles.

Evangelist Billy Graham released from North Carolina hospital

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Evangelist Billy Graham was released from a hospital Monday following surgery for a broken pelvis he suffered in a fall, officials said.

Graham, 85, had been recovering for more than two weeks at Mission Hospitals in Asheville.

"He has made tremendous progress for a man his age," said Dr. Daniel Eglinton, one of the surgeons. "He has had no complications."

Graham fell at his home last month. At the time, he was recovering from a partial hip replacement after he fell earlier this year in a hotel room in Jacksonville, Fla.

Longtime family physician Dr. Lucian Rice described Graham as "mentally keen and very determined."

Police kill coyote that attacked four children in Southern California

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- Police shot and killed a coyote that attacked four children in a neighborhood near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, authorities said Monday.

None of the children was seriously hurt, and authorities were testing the animal for rabies.

One of the youngsters was hospitalized with bites on his neck and face. Police said the coyote grabbed the 3-year-old boy by the head and tried to drag him away.

The attacks occurred Sunday night in one of Simi Valley's newest subdivisions, in an area that borders the hills near the Reagan library.

Authorities said a dry spell may have brought the coyote out of the hills in search of water.

Police arrest 16 in bust of Canadian marijuana ring

DETROIT (AP) -- Authorities Monday announced the arrests of 16 people on charges of running a Canadian drug ring that smuggled hundreds of pounds of marijuana into the United States, some of it in garbage trucks.

The ring was based in a Toronto suburb and supplied cities throughout the Midwest and Northeast, authorities said.

The alleged ringleader, Trong Gia Nguyen, was charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs and launder money. U.S. officials are requesting that Nguyen and others arrested in Canada be extradited. Arrests also were made in Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland and California.

Investigators said the ring generated more than $1 million a month in sales. They had targeted the Toronto ring for the past year, making some arrests and seizing $5 million, as well as 1,700 pounds of marijuana and 3,000 tablets of Ecstasy.

Jury recommends death for molester in Orange County slaying

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A jury recommended the death penalty Monday for a child molester convicted in the slaying 25 years ago of an Orange County teenager.

The jury in Riverside County deliberated for two days before voting to recommend the death penalty for James Lee Crummel.

Superior Court Judge Dennis McConaghy can either accept the jurors recommendation or impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole at a July 9 sentencing hearing.

The same jury convicted Crummel of first-degree murder with special circumstances last month of James "Jamie" Trotter, 13, who vanished on his way to catch a school bus in 1979.

Crummel is serving a 60-years-to-life sentence for molesting another Orange County boy, and was convicted of abusing children in Missouri and Wisconsin in the 1960s.

Prosecutors charged that Crummel, 60, murdered the Costa Mesa boy in April 1979 and then claimed to find his bones near Ortega Highway in 1990. Six years later the bones were identified as Trotter's. The following year, authorities arrested Crummel on suspicion of murder.

Crummel lived on the same Costa Mesa street where Trotter's family lived and photographs found in his home showed he had visited Cleveland National Forest in the 1970s, near where Trotter's bones were found, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Mary Ann Galante argued that the case was based on assumption and that Crummel was singled out because of his criminal past.

Superior Court Judge Dennis McConaghy rejected an attempt by the defense to argue that the murder might be tied to notorious "Freeway Killer" William Bonin, who was executed in 1996 after being convicted of killing 14 boys in 1979 and 1980.

First-grader killed when falling tree strikes tent at state park in central Pennsylvania

GARDNERS, Pa. (AP) -- A 40-foot pine tree fell in a state park, killing a 7-year-old Cub scout and injuring his father and another boy while they slept in tents during a father-son weekend.

Owen R. Lentz, a first-grader from Camp Hill, was killed when the tree fell early Sunday, Pine Grove Furnace State Park manager Kenneth J. Boyles said.

Boyles said the accident was "against all odds." The weather was calm, but the tree was diseased, he said.

Owen's father, Lee Lentz, who was asleep in the same tent, was struck on the head. He was treated at Carlisle Medical Center and released.

Another scout in a tent next to the Lentzes, Christopher Carey, suffered a broken pelvis. He was in satisfactory condition at the medical center on Monday, a spokeswoman said.

The scouts were part of a group of 11 from Camp Hill on a father-son weekend outing at the park in central Pennsylvania.

Owen was a model student and a friend to other students at Schaeffer Elementary, said Kelly Collingsworth, his teacher. "He was a teacher's dream. He loved learning," she said.

Animal rights activists buy freedom for 13 exploited dancing bears

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- They had an unbearable life, but some of Bulgaria's famed dancing bears now have it made in the shade.

Animal rights activists -- moved by the plight of 13 brown bears that were forced to dance on the streets to amuse tourists and enrich their Gypsy owners -- have bought the animals their freedom by giving small grants to the people who exploited them.

The furry giants since have been moved to a new, more natural life in a leafy, mountainous park.

"We want to make sure that in their remaining years, they will live a more bearable life," Helmut Dungler, who runs the Austria-based Four Paws Foundation, said Monday.

The bears are getting some deserved rest in their new home on Mount Rila, a 30-acre sanctuary 110 miles south of Sofia that's being touted as Europe's biggest bear park, project spokesman Krasimir Nikolov said.

For years, several Gypsy families earned a living by organizing bear dancing street shows in cities and resorts across Bulgaria.

The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is about $170, but generally far less among the country's Gypsies, many of whom are unemployed.

Because the practice is illegal, the bears could have simply been taken from their owners. Instead, the Bulgarian chapter of the Four Paws Foundation decided to pay for the animals' freedom through small grants to help the Gypsy families set up new businesses.

"In return, the owners signed declarations never to take up the bear business again," Nikolov said.

The new park was created together with an animal protection foundation run by former French actress Brigitte Bardot. It cost $2.4 million, Nikolov said.

The mighty animals' dancing was not the achievement of some sophisticated taming, but rather the result of a cruel technique -- the bear owner pulled a ring stuck in the bear's nose, causing it such pain that it moved around in a dance-like manner -- park attendant Ibrahim Garaliyski told The Associated Press.

The foundation also is collecting donations so 11 other dancing bears can be moved to the park soon. For now, those bears are living with their owners, although they are no longer dancing. The bears have been fitted with a special chip to allow their easy identification.

Dancing bears, which shuffle around on their hind legs while their owners play music, are an old tradition in Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans. In 2002, a man was critically injured after being mauled by a tethered bear in downtown Sofia, the capital.

Officials in neighboring Greece also have been cracking down on the practice.

Sheriff: Crime spree suspect likely killed Florida boy, grandmother who disappeared in 2001

DELAND, Fla. (AP) -- Investigators found the skeletal remains of 10-year-old boy who vanished with his grandmother in 2001, and authorities said Monday they believe both were slain by a man who allegedly killed three people during a crime spree last month.

Joshua Bryant's bones were found Friday about five miles away from his Deltona home, and were positively identified Monday, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said. Bryant's 77-year-old grandmother, Lillian Martin, remained missing.

Johnson said investigators suspect they were killed by Douglas Manning McClymont, who did electrical work in the home where Joshua and Martin were living.

In early May, McClymont fatally shot a longtime acquaintance and kidnapped the man's wife before driving to North Carolina. There, he shot to death a married couple, then kidnapped his own estranged wife.

McClymont shot himself to death after North Carolina authorities pursued him when he fled a traffic stop May 2. Neither of the abducted women was seriously hurt.

Johnson said investigators interviewed McClymont shortly after the disappearances of Bryant and Martin, but he said he was with friends at the time.

After McClymont's crime spree last month, investigators began reconsidering him as a suspect in the disappearances, Johnson said. They reinterviewed a woman who said she had seen a man carrying duct tape walking with a boy.

She had not recognized Joshua's photo three years ago, but recognized McClymont when shown his photo recently, Johnson said. Joshua's remains were found in woods not far from where the woman had seen the man and boy.

Johnson also said that days after the disappearance, McClymont had the interior of the van he had been driving refurbished, even though the van wasn't his.

Joshua and his grandmother disappeared May 12, 2001, from the home in Deltona that they shared with Joshua's sister, Joanne Miller. Deltona is northeast of Orlando.

When the sister came home, the house had been vandalized but Martin's car was in the driveway and her purse wasn't taken.

Johnson refused to discuss what McClymont's motive might have been.

Police: N.Y. man stabbed wife, child to death, injured another before killing self

GATES, N.Y. (AP) -- A man stabbed his wife to death and lined up his four children, killing one and seriously wounding another, before he took his own life, police said.

Steven Ryder, 46, and his 32-year-old wife, Louise, quarreled Sunday night after she requested a ride to work, according to police.

Steven Ryder called his wife "a Lucifer" and she then tried to run away but was attacked with a knife, said Police Chief Thomas Roche.

During the attack, the couple's children fled outside, but were ordered by their father to return to the house, Roche said. Steven Ryder then lined them up and attacked his 12-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son.

The couple's two other children escaped without injury. One ran to a nearby home and told a neighbor what happened.

The 12-year-old girl died from her wounds, police said. The son was hospitalized in serious condition.

Members of Monroe County's SWAT team found Steven Ryder dead in the home from apparent self-inflicted stab wounds, according to the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester.

"It was a really ugly scene," Roche said. "Had the kids not revolted, I think he would have done them all."

One of America's most wanted now awaiting trial on charges of ordering hit on wife

ATLANTA (AP) -- Carrying a box filled with a dozen long-stemmed pink roses, a man knocked on the door of Lita McClinton Sullivan's townhouse. He fired two shots, and the socialite dropped dead.

Now, after 17 years and a round-the-world manhunt for one of America's most wanted fugitives, her millionaire husband has been brought back to Atlanta from Thailand to face charges he had his estranged wife murdered.

James Vincent Sullivan, 63, sits in a jail cell, awaiting trial early next year. He could get the death penalty.

"It's time for justice to be served," said Lita Sullivan's father, Emory McClinton. "But we are still missing a family member. That should never have happened. She should not have predeceased her parents."

Police say Sullivan had every reason to kill his 35-year-old wife: greed, affairs and status.

She was killed Jan. 16, 1987, hours before a hearing in her bitterly contested divorce. She was seeking the $450,000 townhouse, its antique French furnishings and $100,000 in jewelry.

Sullivan lived in luxury as he eluded authorities on a cross-continent run -- from Palm Beach, Fla., to Costa Rica to Panama to Venezuela, and then to a beach condo in Thailand, where he was captured in 2002 after someone recognized him from "America's Most Wanted."

After 19 months in an overcrowded Thailand prison, a worn-looking Sullivan was extradited to Atlanta in March, wearing shackles and walking with one bare foot swollen from an infection.

The Sullivans' troubles started in 1983 in Palm Beach, where James Sullivan bought an oceanfront mansion for $2 million after selling his inherited Georgia liquor company for $5 million.

Newly rich, he wanted to break into the Palm Beach elite. But some say he may have been held back by his blue-collar background, his Boston accent and his black wife, Lita.

"It's the law of the jungle. A dark woman at that point in time just couldn't walk around as casually as a white one," said James Jennings Sheeran, author of "Palm Beach Power & Glory, Wit & Wisdom." "She may well have held him back."

Later, the Sullivans moved to Atlanta, where the social structure was not so rigid. He started seeing other women, and his wife eventually filed for divorce.

After her slaying, James Sullivan again took up residence in Palm Beach and was frequently seen around town.

"The attover the phone. But a judge dismissed the case after Sullivan's attorney argued there was no evidence of who made the calls or what was discussed.

"He was tried once, and the court found so little evidence it didn't go to a jury," Sullivan's lawyer said. "To say someone has a motive and therefore he must be the guilty person, that's a hard way to judge guilt."

Sullivan also faces a $4 million civil judgment after a Florida jury found him liable in 1994 in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his dead wife's family. None of that money has been collected.

"He's done everything he can do to hide his money," said Brad Moores, an attorney for the McClintons. "It's a very fascinating story. I've worked on this case now going back 13 or 14 years, and I'm not sure what to expect next."

Trial begins for Georgia teens accused of plotting school attack

WINDER, Ga. (AP) -- Two 14-year-old boys accused of plotting a Columbine-style killing spree at their middle school compiled a starkly simple list of targets: "Everybody," a classmate testified Monday.

The boys -- identified only by their first names, Adam and Joseph -- went on trial in juvenile court, charged with conspiracy to commit murder and other offenses.

One classmate testified the boys had a list of targets at the rural school 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.

"The list was short, it was one word -- it was `everybody,"' said the classmate, who was not identified because of her age.

The girl also said the pair were upset with a teacher picking on them and wanted to rebel against the "hatred and discrimination."

Another student testified that she saw a gun in Joseph's locker, and that he told her "he was going to give it to Adam on the last day of school," May 21, to kill the teacher and eighth-graders "on their list."

Police arrested the boys May 14 after students alerted authorities.

Authorities said they found at Joseph's home a diagram of the school and arrows pointing to various spots. Each boy also allegedly had papers that talked about death and suggested they wanted to kill themselves, police said.

Joseph's father kept a shotgun, rifles and a handgun locked up at his home, authorities said.

The defense has maintained the plot was a rumor the two boys started to attract girls.

During testimony, neither child showed any emotion; Adam stared at the ground, while Joseph looked straight ahead.

Reputed Gang Member Goes on Trial for Slayings of Two Teens

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A reputed gang member went with two others into rival territory last year and killed two teens standing with a group of people in South Los Angeles, a prosecutor told jurors today.

But defense attorney Murray Meyer, who represents 16-year-old Jaylin Underwood, said his client had nothing to do with the Sept. 10, 2003, shootings of Demario Moore, 13, and Quinesha Dunford, 15.

"It was a tragedy, two young lives lost, murdered ... But Jaylin Underwood did not do it," Meyer told the Los Angeles Superior Court jury during his opening statement.

Underwood, 15 at the time, is being tried as an adult. Also charged and awaiting trial separately are Marcel Harlin and Adrian Richardson, now both 18.

Underwood and his two compatriots went into a rival's territory, and Underwood fired from a car window at the group of people standing on the sidewalk, said Deputy District Attorney Alan Schneider.

The shots hit the boy and girl, who were not members of the rival gang "but merely in their neighborhood," Schneider said.

"Two young lives from our community were taken senselessly by gang violence," the prosecutor said.

He credited community members with taking "heroic action" in following the car from which the shots were fired and getting the license plate number, then returning to the crime scene to speak to police.

Underwood's attorney urged jurors to keep their minds open.

"What I'm going to be able to do is show you the people will not be able to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," Meyer said. CNS-06-7-2004 14:59

Owner of Chicken Ranch brothel in Nevada says it's time to sell

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The Chicken Ranch, one of the best-known brothels in the business, is for sale for just under $7 million.

"I'm going to be 63 this summer," said Ken Green, who has run the business for 22 years. "I'm just working a little more at it than I want to."

Green said he bought the brothel in 1982 for $1.25 million from Walter Plankinton, who named it after the Texas establishment that closed in the 1970s and was made famous on stage and screen as "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Green said he developed the property from two doublewide trailers into a 40-acre spread with a bar, parlor, swimming pool and three bungalows with Wild West, jungle and Victorian themes. The brothel is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

"You mention the name `Chicken Ranch' everyone gets a little smile on their face and knows what you're talking about," Green said Monday. "We're not raising poultry out there."

Odds and Ends

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Bald is a hair color in Montana.

Montana's Web site lists "bald" as an option when applying online for a fishing license.

"It's always been there, but before when you applied for a license at a sporting goods store, the person filling out the license just checked the appropriate box," said Rich Olsen, general manager of the state's site, Discovering Montana.

You also can choose to declare your shiny pate on your driver's license.

"It's a newer option, along with other hair colors, such as sandy," said Patrick McJannet, manager of field operations for the state Motor Vehicle Division.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks doesn't keep track of how many people admit to being folliclely challenged, said Neal Whitney, one of the agency's computer specialists.

HONG KONG (AP) -- An Australian man visiting a southern Chinese city scared off robbers demanding the security code for his ATM card by faking an epileptic seizure.

Tom Beckett was lured into a dead-end alley by two women who said they would take him to a DVD shop in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. Five robbers then showed up and took him hostage in a nearby building, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

After finding an automated teller machine card on Beckett, the robbers asked for the number, but Beckett, with his mouth taped, feigned an epileptic seizure, the report said.

The robbers tried to treat him by pouring water over him and massaging his chest -- but only after taking his watch and cash, the Post reported.

"They obviously didn't want dead meat on their hands," Beckett was quoted as saying.

The robbers then escorted Beckett out of the building and set him free.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Rose Gerber tastes seaweed the way some people taste wine.

"Relaxing," she said after savoring a taste of some prepared black seaweed Friday during a cook-off at Sealaska Heritage Institute's annual celebration.

The contest is part of a biennial three-day cultural heritage event featuring dance groups, a juried art show, storytelling, Alaska Native language demonstrations and other events.

The black seaweed gathered at low tide along the beaches of Southeast Alaska is similar to nori used as a wrap in sushi. The plant grows in dark green sheets, but turns black when it dries.

The first-place winner in this year's contest, 61-year-old Marian Adams, said she's been gathering the plant since she was a child. She collects black seaweed in May and June, and tries to get enough to last the whole year.

She dries hers in the sun, carefully picks out any shells or weeds, adds clam juice for flavoring and grinds it halfway through drying.

"We have to have it. It's part of our culture and part of our food," she said. "If you don't have it, you're left high and dry and try to go buy it from somebody else that has a stash."

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A duck stuck in muck up to his nuck, er, neck, was rescued by a 73-year-old man in hip waders who then became stuck himself and had to be extracted by emergency personnel.

Because of low water levels, the pond that ensnared the duckling had turned into a muddy quagmire. When Walt Lutz heard a mother duck frantically quacking near the pond on his property Friday, he decided the duckling needed rescuing.

"The harder it struggled, the deeper it went," said Lutz, a retired account executive for Honeywell.

He pulled on his hip boots, grabbed a shovel and waded through the muck to free the duckling. But soon Lutz also found himself stuck in the thigh-deep muck.

While he'd freed the duck easily, he couldn't free himself after a 20-minute struggle. Despite his protests his wife called 911.

Using 10-inch-wide planks, police and ambulance personnel formed a frame around Lutz, attached a belt to him and pulled him out.

"I just did what I thought had to be done," he said later.

People

NEW YORK (AP) -- As host of the 2004 Tony Awards, Hugh Jackman knows how to move a show along, whether on-camera or off.

During a commercial break at Sunday evening's ceremonies at Radio City Music Hall, he strolled onto the stage singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," which he previously performed as Curly in a revival of "Oklahoma!"

He invited the audience to join him in a sing-along, but not everyone knew the lyrics -- including Sean Combs, who was sitting in the front row. So Jackman invited the hip-hop impresario onstage to learn the song. "I'll sing the first verse and you follow me," Jackman said.

After a tentative start, Combs warmed to the challenge and robustly followed Jackman's lead. Then Jackman introduced his wife to the audience, brought her to the stage and walked her over to Combs, pointing to the large, sparkling bauble around her neck.

"Sean," he said, "now that is bling!"

The 35-year-old actor also was a Tony winner Sunday night for the musical "The Boy from Oz," in which he stars as singer-songwriter Peter Allen.

LONDON (AP) -- Alex Kingston says she's being axed from "ER" for being too old.

The British actress, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the long-running NBC medical drama, said she was told recently that after seven years on the show, her contract would not be renewed.

In an interview with Radio Times magazine, the 41-year-old Kingston said the program was increasingly focused on young characters, "and apparently I, according to the producers and the writers, am part of the old fogies who are no longer interesting."

"In that respect it's a shame. It's fine to have young med students, but you need to have figures of authority, people of different ages, races, shapes and sizes," she said.

Kingston said being let go "was a shock and obviously upsetting, but it's just your ego that's upset. Then I got over it."

The actress, who starred as a warrior queen in the British drama "Boudica" last year, said she plans to return to Britain for film and television work.

"Scariness comes from not knowing whether I can do it anymore, because I've been playing one role for so long," she said.

"Admittedly, I've done little bits and pieces, but I'm very excited about getting back to the U.K."

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The Australian rock band that belted out "Highway to Hell" could soon stroll down a lane named in their honor.

The Melbourne City Council is considering renaming Corporation Lane, a narrow downtown alley, AC/DC Lane as a tribute to the band.

"They are probably the most successful Australian band ever and they really do have a connection to Melbourne," council city services committee chairwoman Kimberly Kitching said Monday.

One of the band's famous video clips, for the song "Long Way to the Top," was filmed on the back of a truck in a Melbourne street.

She said the council would make a decision on the name change within the next month, but it had already received broad community support.

AC/DC already has a street named after it in Madrid.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Peter Garrett, the former lead singer of the disbanded Australian rock group Midnight Oil, has been touted to run in the next federal election.

Sunday newspapers gave front page coverage to the prospect of Garrett, a leading environmentalist and longtime political activist, becoming the highest profile candidate for the safe Labor Party seat of Kingsford Smith in Sydney.

Garrett could not be contacted for comment Monday.

Labor leaders have welcomed the possibility of Garrett joining their team and bringing with him crucial environment-focussed voters.

"My view is that Peter Garrett would make a fantastic parliamentarian," Labor leader Mark Latham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "He's dynamic, he's bright, he's an inspiring person. I would certainly welcome him to the Labor Party team in Canberra if he decided to run."

Garrett's name was put forward after Labor stalwart Laurie Brereton announced last week he will retire at the next election after a 34-year political career, leaving a vacancy at Kingsford Smith.

But local Labor Party members have said they would prefer a local candidate rather than a high-profile outsider.

Prime Minister John Howard has yet to announce an election date which could be as early as August 7.

Midnight Oil's protest song about Aboriginal land rights, "Beds Are Burning," was a hit around the world and the band played it at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In addition to his singing career, Garrett has been president of the Australian Conservation Foundation. He also has served on the international board of environmental group Greenpeace.