DRAPER, Utah (AP) - An inmate was killed accidentally when his head was crushed in a closing cell door, officials said Monday.
John J. Gardner, 27, was peering out his cell at Utah State Prison on Thursday when an officer about 150 feet away activated the mechanism that closed the cell doors on the block, the sheriff's department said.
The officer was standing behind a wall, where the door mechanism is located, and could not see that Gardner was not completely inside the cell, prison spokesman Jack Ford said.
Ford said when the cell doors are about to be shut, the guard shouts out his intentions and the doors begin closing 10 to 15 seconds later.
Ford said he knew of no previous cases of an inmate getting his head caught in the door, though "we've had arms caught before."
Sheriff's office policy requires that homicide detectives investigate when there is a death at the prison.
Gardner had been convicted of theft.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - A woman faces charges of having sex with an 8-year-old boy whom investigators said she considered her boyfriend.
Tammy Imre, 29, was arrested Friday and charged with sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. A judge set bond at $250,000 Monday.
Police began investigating in September after the third-grader's mother discovered a letter Imre had written him, in which she tells the boy she doesn't "want anyone but you."
She continued: "Now tomorrow it's supposed to rain, you can come over we can (you know what). Love ya! I want you!"
Police said the boy, the playmate of Imre's 7-year-old daughter, initially denied doing anything with Imre because he feared getting into trouble. He later told police he had sexual intercourse with her and that she gave him a key to her apartment.
According to an arrest affidavit, Imre told investigators she considered it "like a fantasy and she was the girlfriend and he was the boyfriend and that someday they could end up together in a relationship."
Evelyn Imre, the suspect's mother, said her daughter had "a little mental problem," but declined to elaborate. "I love her," Evelyn Imre said. "She didn't do anything wrong."
If convicted, Imre could serve more than 20 years in prison. A trial date has not been set.
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas teachers have been told they can continue to reward students with candy, despite a state battle against childhood obesity in schools.
The Pulaski County School District had told elementary school principals last month that teachers could no longer hand out candy or ice cream as rewards.
But state Education Department director Ken James said no such directive has been approved by the state Board of Education.
"We need to be conscious of what we are doing in terms of sugar content, but we have not dictated to schools that they cannot use those as rewards," James said.
As a result, the district told teachers last week that they could resume handing out candy. The directive was based on a misunderstanding of a new law, officials said.
The law requires schools to calculate the body mass index for each student and bars access to vending machines for elementary school students.
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) - Twelve-year-old Justin Pierce loved to fish and snorkel before he died in an accident on an all-terrain vehicle. Now his parents think they've found a way for their son to remain close to the water he loved.
They mixed his ashes with cement to form a hollow concrete ball that was placed in the shallow water off Sarasota in late October. The ball helps restore a critical underwater habitat while becoming a living memorial with coral and fish.
"In a way, he's still alive," said Justin's mother, Lorna.
The growing trend of alternative funeral services has led to innovative ways of memorializing the dead, from turning cremated remains into reefs and fireworks, shooting them into space, turning them into diamonds or enclosing them in keepsake jewelry.
"What is unappetizing to one person is very much appealing to another," said Jack Springer, executive director of the Chicago-based North American Cremation Association.
The trend of personalizing funeral services is driven, in part, by an increase in cremation. According to Springer, about 687,000 people were cremated in 2003 and that number is expected to increase by about 40 percent by 2025.
"It is expanding the options that are available to families," said Paul Dixon, executive director of the Funeral Ethics Association. "I do think that it appeals to a certain segment of society, but I don't know that it's for everyone."
Roberta Morris, 77, a retiree in nearby Venice, had planned to spread the ashes of her husband at sea, but then she learned about the cremation reefs.
"It's not death," she said. "It's just the most romantic thing to do with your spouse."
Her husband, Robert, was an avid fisherman until 15 years ago, when he was disabled with a brain disorder. "He would have loved this," his wife said.
The concrete reefs began as an ecological project, not a funeral service, said founder Don Brawley. He and some friends who are amateur snorkelers developed the reef balls to help restore the underwater habitat. Now more than 500,000 reef balls rest on the ocean floor off 48 countries.
In 1998, Brawley's father-in-law, Carleton Palmer, said he'd like to be cremated and have his remains mixed in one of the reef balls.
"He said he'd rather spend eternity down there with all that life going on than stuck in a field with a bunch of dead people," Brawley said. Months later, Palmer died of cancer and Brawley complied with his wishes, making the first so-called Eternal Reef.
As Brawley told friends about his father-in-law's unique resting place, others voiced interest in doing the same. Now, the remains of snorkelers, anglers, environmentalists, and a Navy diver with his dog are entombed in the reefs.
With more than 100 of the underwater memorials, Sarasota has become the largest site for Eternal Reefs. Another 100 reefs are scattered along the Gulf of Mexico and up the East Coast.
Brawley said the reefs, which start at about $1,000 and are expected to last 500 years, help families work through their grief and restore the coastal habitat at no cost to the government.
Families who choose a reef memorial begin by coming to the plant in Sarasota to mix their loved ones remains in the concrete and pour it into a mold. It takes about a month for the concrete to set.
Barbara Jack, 45, of Valley Forge, Penn., said the other families making reefs were "an unexpected comfort." Her 54-year-old husband, Lloyd, died while waiting for a lung transplant. Before he died he requested his remains be put in an Eternal Reef, a fitting resting place for the owner of a concrete business who loved to dive in the Caribbean.
Barbara Jack and the other families returned to Sarasota last month to say goodbye and watch the 20 reefs go into the ocean.
"It was the most wonderful experience," Barbara Jack said. "It is so reassuring that I know he is where he loved to be the most, with his fish."
Justin Pierce's father, Matthew, sobbed when his son's reef dipped below the water. He and his wife plan to get their Scuba diving certification so they can visit Justin's reef and watch it grow.
"Even if we're just standing on the shore, looking at the sunset," Lorna Pierce said, "we know he's out there."
ST. PAUL (AP) - A decorated Navy veteran who robbed a credit union and then hid in the Mississippi River in scuba gear was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison.
Mark W. Samples, 41, of Hager City, Wis., was convicted in May of stealing more than $70,000 in the holdup. Witnesses said he fled on a mountain bike, then made his way to the river's edge, donned scuba gear and drifted downstream to his car.
Samples claimed at trial that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of a 1987 Iraqi attack on the USS Stark that killed 37 sailors, including Samples' best friend.
Samples moved Stinger missiles from the path of spreading fires, then spent 13 hours hosing down missiles as flames raged nearby. He was decorated for heroism.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A man was convicted by a judge Monday on charges he deliberately exposed 17 women to HIV by having unprotected sex with them. Five of the women have tested positive for the virus, which causes AIDS.
Anthony E. Whitfield, 32, faces a minimum sentence of 137 years in prison on the 17 counts of first-degree assault with sexual motivation and other charges.
Health officials said as many as 170 people may have been exposed to the virus because of Whitfield's actions, counting subsequent partners of women he slept with. No additional people have tested positive for HIV, but 45 refused to be tested or couldn't be found.
During the trial in Thurston County court, an Oklahoma prison official testified that Whitfield was diagnosed with HIV while incarcerated in 1992.
Two women testified that Whitfield once said, seemingly in jest, that if he had HIV, he would give it to as many people as he could.
Defense lawyer Charles Lane said Whitfield was addicted to methamphetamine and used women for shelter, money and sex but never meant to inflict "great bodily harm" as required for him to be convicted of first-degree assault.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A newspaper mistakenly published the telephone number of a sex talk service on the front page on its Election Day issue. The number was supposed to be for a national voter hot line.
"We didn't follow our policy of calling the number before publishing it," said Pat Yack, editor of The Florida Times-Union.
Yack said as soon as the mistake was learned, a correction was published on the newspaper's Web site and in the paper.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The former wife of a University of Richmond professor shot dead outside his home as his three children slept inside was charged Monday with his murder, police said.
A grand jury returned indictments charging Piper A. Rountree, 44, of Houston, with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, a police spokesman said. A conviction would carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Fredric M. Jablin, 52, was found in the driveway of his suburban Richmond home on the morning of Oct. 30. An autopsy determined he died of a gunshot wound to the torso.
The couple's children, ages 8, 12 and 15, were unharmed.
Police arrested Rountree Monday shortly after she attended a Henrico County court hearing at which the judge awarded temporary custody of the children to Fredric Jablin's brother, who lives in northern Virginia.
Police would not say whether they knew of a possible motive or whether Rountree has admitted to or denied the charges.
The police spokesman, Lt. Doug Perry, said he did not know how long the couple had been divorced.
Rountree's next-door neighbor, Victor Hall, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that Rountree moved to Texas a few months ago from Virginia.
She had been involved in a custody battle with her former husband over their children, Hall said.
Rountree was being booked into jail Monday afternoon as a memorial service for Fredric Jablin got under way at the University of Richmond. It could not be determined immediately whether she had a lawyer.
Jablin was a management and communications specialist with the private school's Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He joined the school in 1994.
Jablin also was a researcher or consultant for Anheuser-Busch Inc., the Air Force, State Farm Insurance and Westinghouse Inc., among others, the university said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - For sale: One ex-wife's $250 million divorce judgment. All the buyer has to do is figure out how to collect from the Saudi royal family.
After battling for more than 20 years to collect the court-ordered judgment, Diana Bilinelli said she has decided to sell it - at a substantial discount - on the chance that others may have better means to track it down.
"It's a dandy investment opportunity," said her lawyer, Helen Dorroh-White.
Bilinelli's late ex-husband, Sheik Mohammed al-Fassi, gained national attention and the wrath of his Beverly Hills neighbors in the 1970s when he painted his mansion - and the genitals on the classic Italian nude statues in his yard - in garish colors.
When an arsonist set the mansion ablaze while he and Bilinelli were out of town in 1980, neighbors chanted "Burn, burn, burn."
Soon after that, Bilinelli and al-Fassi split over his plans to take more wives, and in 1983 a Los Angeles judge awarded her half his assets, including two Boeing 707 airliners, 36 cars, a yacht, 26 horses, a private zoo and homes in Spain, London and Miami Beach.
Al-Fassi died in Cairo of an infected hernia in 2002 at the age of 50 after claiming he had transferred all of his holdings to relatives, including Saudi King Fahd and his brother Prince Turki.
A court has ruled that Turki is liable for al-Fassi's debt, but Bilinelli's attorneys said they have been unable to find his assets.
"Putting the judgment up for sale is the Last Chance Saloon for us," Dorroh-White said. "It's the only thing we haven't tried."
SEATTLE (AP) - Jones Soda Co. takes the idea of a liquid diet to a new low. How does Green Bean Casserole Soda strike you? And how about an aggressively buttery-smelling Mashed Potato Soda?
Even the creators of the fizzy concoctions at this small Seattle soda company can hardly stomach the stuff. But last year's unexpected success of the Turkey & Gravy Soda means another round of bizarre food-flavored soft drinks. As an added bonus - they're calorie-free.
This week Jones Soda Co. launches a full meal deal of five Thanksgiving soda flavors, from the bile-colored Green Bean Casserole to the sweet - but slightly sickly - Fruitcake Soda. Last year's Turkey & Gravy is also back on the menu.
If you think it sounds less than appetizing, you're not alone.
"Oh, man, I can't drink that!" cries out company chief executive Peter van Stolk, after pouring himself a drink of mashed potatoes.
To banish the buttery aftertaste, he recommends a chaser of Cranberry Soda, the only one of the holiday bunch that doesn't make you want to pick up a toothbrush.
Drinking last year's savory Turkey & Gravy was no picnic, either, but that didn't stop people from clamoring for it, pushing bidding on auction site eBay Inc. up to $63 for a two-bottle set.
This year Jones plans to produce up to 15,000 five-packs of the 12-ounce bottles, which come complete with utensils (a straw and a toothpick). The sodas may not be as satisfying as a real holiday meal, but they can boast being both calorie- and carb-free, not to mention vegan and kosher.
Beginning Thursday, they'll be on sale at some Target Corp. stores throughout the country, and at other retailers, for between $14.95 and $16.95, with proceeds benefiting Toys for Tots.
Known for its quirky ads and offbeat bottle designs, Jones traces its roots to a soda distribution operation that began in 1987. But it wasn't until the mid-1990s that the company began its own line of sodas, cultivating a following among skaters, surfers and snowboarders with unusual flavors like blue bubble gum, green apple and watermelon. These days, Jones soda, juice and energy drinks are available nationwide at stores including Target, Albertson's and Safeway.
Five tasters were assigned to the task of perfecting the holiday flavors, although van Stolk said most other employees ended up trying the sodas sooner or later.
In the early stages, the staff grew deeply divided over mashed potato versus sweet potato: "It was like red versus blue," van Stolk said, referring to the recent presidential election.
In the end, he called it for mashed potato, arguing it was the more familiar food.
Jones isn't the only company to find that people have a certain fascination with foods that make you go "yuck." There's the real-life version of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, made famous by the Harry Potter books and featuring tastes like Vomit, Booger and Earthworm. And millions of Americans regularly tune in to reality shows to watch contestants eat things like spiders and snails.
Experts say part of the human fascination with such foods is the omnivore's natural tendency to try a varied diet. But there's also a certain group of people who are simply novelty seekers who get a thrill out of more extreme gastronomical adventures, said Virginia Utermohlen, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University.
For those people, she said, the thinking is, "So long as I know it's not going to kill me, it might be just interesting."
Barbara Rolls, nutritional sciences professor at Penn State University, said research shows young people are more likely to try new foods, but she speculates it's not just nature.
"It's that bravado factor," she said.
And for some, Rolls added, the risk will have a reward.
"Who knows, maybe it really tastes good," she said.
Posted in Backpage on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 12:00 am Updated: 10:36 pm.
© Copyright 2009, North County Times - Californian, Escondido, CA | Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
