perhaps more evidence found in the murder case of annie le

wow, i would have thought they went over that area with a fine tooth comb. it's rather odd an employee found the new evidence in a drain pipe (as in what was an employee doing looking in a drain pipe???? although i guess the pipe could have been clogged and maintenance could have been asked to look into it and THEY found the clothing. hmmmmmmm don't know. all speculation on my part)

and once again there are ALL sorts of links in the courant story which is the link below


Potential New Evidence In Yale Murder Case
The Hartford Courant

NEW HAVEN — - State police on Sunday returned to the Yale research lab building where the body of 24-year-old graduate student Annie Le was found a week earlier after the discovery of potential new evidence.

The State Police Central District Crime Squad was called to 10 Amistad St. after an employee discovered clothing in the basement area, apparently in some kind of drain pipe. The evidence was removed for testing.

On Wednesday, the Western District Crime Squad was called to the building to flush out and search other drain pipes in the basement area. No additional evidence was found.

Officer Joe Avery, a New Haven police spokesman, said police recovered "possible evidence or something related to the case," but he declined to elaborate.

"We've never really been totally out of there," Avery said. "We've been back and forth, and we're still in and out of there. This is a big case, and we're going to cross every 't' and dot every 'i.'"............



Funeral Set Today In California For Slain Yale Graduate Student Annie Le
EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. - A funeral for Annie Le, the Yale graduate student killed earlier this month, has been scheduled for today in California, a family spokesman said.

Family members and close friends will attend the funeral at Holy Trinity Church in El Dorado Hills, Calif., said the Rev. Dennis Smith, a New Haven pastor who has served as a family spokesman.......

the moral of the story is

don't come across the border from ny and try to sing karaoke in connecticut! there are lovely pics of the SUSPECTS at the link below if you're so inclined to see 'em



Belted After Belting Out Badly

By LEANNE GENDREAU

More than a New York woman’s ego was wounded when six women beat her up over a bad karaoke performance in Stamford, police said.

The 25-year-old woman from Port Chester, New York, was singing at Bobby Valentine’s Restaurant on Wednesday night when six women made some derogatory comments about the victim’s inability to sing, police said. What she was singing, we have no idea.

Then, in a move that makes Simon Cowell seem kind, the girl fight started, according to police.....

more smoke fire and angels (book) coverage

 

smoke fire and angels

my friend mark robinson

was interviewed by wfsb yesterday

they don't say anywhere in the interview ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BOOK (which can be purchased through the site smoke fire and angels) go to a fund for the victims and their families. SO I'M SAYING IT (again).

i read half of the book a long time ago when mark gave me an initial draft of the first few chapters. i was impressed then but i am more impressed now. mark not only tells you the story of the victims and those that shared their lives BUT he even tells you about the inner workings of a dump truck, the history (as in geology) of how avon mountain got here. he gives us background on the angels (including one doc who treated people at the scene and disappeared into the smoke never to be identified). mark did amazing reasearch.

the book is $20.00 (all inclusive). order it from the site please (if you get it in borders they keep part of the proceeds). OR if you see me anywhere, i have copies. i'll always have copies with me. just stop me and say HEY A ROSE IS A ROSE, toss one o' them thar books over ta me!

channel 3 video link

Surivor Details Avon Mountain Crash In Book
Author Tells Stories Of Victims, Rescuers
AVON, Conn. -- A survivor of the deadly Avon Mountain crash is telling his story in a new book.A dump truck slammed into traffic at the base of the mountain in 2005, killing five people.Crash survivor Mark Robinson not only lived through the crash, but also interviewed nearly 100 witnesses and victims for the book, “Smoke, Fire And Angels.”“I don’t remember a thing – it’s just a blank in my mind – and so naturally I’ve had a curiosity,” Robinson said. “I was in the front row of this event and I don’t remember a thing.”On July 29, 2005, Robinson said he was on Route 44 headed from Canton to Hartford, where he worked at ING. He said he was thinking about how he should have left an hour earlier.....

smoke fire and angels

just a couple of my previous postings

here
here
and
here

i knew andy at cool justice would have a posting

and his is the one i want to link to

Jim Irwin, 1936-2009, Friend Of Young Writers

Irwin founded the Young Writers Trust in 1998. Douskey, an original board member of The Trust, has also served as President of IMPAC University in Punta Gorda, FL.

Today, the Connecticut Young Writers competition continues to affirm the work of young poets and writers while celebrating their accomplishments. The Young Writers Trust has given more than $182,000 to Connecticut’s best young writers since 1998.

IMPAC Chairman Jim Irwin and retired Connecticut State University System Chancellor William Cibes expanded the Young Writers Program from Litchfield County to cover the entire state in 2000.

IMPAC, a leading global productivity firm, sponsors the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, which, at 100,000 euros, is the largest in the world for a single work of fiction.

Jim Irwin was a great friend to young writers all over the world. He was a fierce and relentless advocate for free expression.............
pic:
-- Photos Courtesy of Connecticut Young Writers Trust
Jim Irwin, right, at the Litchfield Inn several years ago with friend and colleague Franz Douskey, the poet and writer.

domestic violence - BREAK THE CYCLE

over the years i've worked at various shelters for women and children. i've done everything from yard work to washing windows to cooking to holding the hand of a crying woman to holding the hand of a laughing woman.

shelters for victims of domestic abuse are (unfortunately) more than necessary. i have read due to the economy, many (in other states) have been closing. we can't let that happen UNTIL WE STAMP OUT ABUSE

interval house

Men Announce Domestic Violence Initiative
By HILDA MUÑOZ The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD — - Some 30 prominent men from businesses, television news stations, law enforcement and several other agencies in Connecticut gathered at the Legislative Office Building this morning to announce a new initiative in the battle against domestic violence.

The men pledged to help Interval House, a non-profit domestic violence intervention and prevention program, combat the crime by helping to educate children and families to raising money,

"Domestic violence is a cycle that can stop if we provide the leadership. I truly believe that men can make a difference. We're coming to learn, listen and lend a hand, but also to lead," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Blumenthal is chairman of Interval House's Men Against Domestic Violence Campaign: "Men Make a Difference." They have been recruiting men to join their efforts since July.

One of way of breaking the cycle is awareness, Blumenthal said, and several television news stations have vowed to help with education and outreach. Brad Drazen, a news anchor for WVIT 30 ( NBC Connecticut), is planning on doing public service announcements with Blumenthal..............

that's a wrap on the investigation of the murder of annie le

may she rest in peace. may her family, friends and fiance find peace in their lives as well. the world was devastated, i can only imagine how they feel

New Haven Police Done With Le's Murder Investigation; No More Arrests Expected
By ALAINE GRIFFIN The Hartford Courant

NEW HAVEN — - Police have wrapped up their investigation of the slaying of Yale graduate student Annie Le and are not expecting more arrests, the police chief said Monday.

Police Chief James Lewis said that police on Saturday seized a vehicle owned by the father of Raymond Clark III, but he declined to say why police sought a search warrant for the vehicle.

"But don't read anything into that," Lewis said. "It doesn't mean that somebody else is going to be arrested. We're finishing up the process of looking at evidence and sometimes you never know where that evidence will take you. But for now, we've made the only arrest we expect to make. "

Clark, 24, an animal laboratory technician at Yale, is charged with murder in the killing of Le, a third-year doctoral student in pharmacology at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.......

............In a press release, police said that Dearington asked the department to clarify a report in The New York Post that said the suspect "broke the bones and mangled the body of" Le "to fit it through a wall."

"This information is false and this myth must be dispelled at the request of the state's attorney," Lewis said in the press release.

Lewis told The Courant that such a report needed to be corrected.

"We'd prefer not to have inaccurate statements out there, particularly ones that are so shocking to the public," he said........

andy thibault at cool justice

has more on

the VERY falsely arrested PROFESSOR RAVI SHANKAR

link to ny post story from andy
and
info on the suit filed by atty bruce baron on behalf of professor shankar

car i saw in the bishop's corner yesterday

whole foods parking lot

todays posting on raymond clark iii, annie le and dna

the courant link below has a ton of other links within it. very comprehensive coverage. they even include a bunch of links to OTHER sources (which i find very refreshing)

my thoughts for today are; first i in no way shape or form am saying raymond clark is guilty. he has not (to the best of my knowledge) plead guilty nor has he been tried and found guilty. what i want to know is; if in fact he does NOT plead out and does go to trial, how the hell are they going to find a jury who isn't familiar with the case? not only is it all over the news in connecticut and the rest of the united states, it is INTERNATIONAL (i know because i'm getting hits on the postings i've done and the hits are from other countries). if the stories are true and they are getting clark's dna and ms le's dna from the same places, well then we all already KNOW that and so would 99% of those in the jury pool (i have been called to jury duty MANY times so i know the ropes. although i have never actually been chosen. if i was called for this case, i would absolutely have to recuse myself).




Clothing Contains DNA Of Victim Annie Le, Suspect Raymond Clark III, Source Says
By ALAINE GRIFFIN, DAVE ALTIMARI and DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant
NEW HAVEN - As hordes of FBI agents and Yale police combed the basement of a Yale University laboratory building for missing bride-to-be Annie Le, the man accused of killing her moved among them, in an apparent effort to cover his tracks, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said.

That behavior aroused investigators' suspicions about Raymond Clark III, but the final piece that led to his arrest Thursday morning was the discovery that evidence in the ceiling and in the crawl space where Le's body was found contained the DNA of both Le and Clark, according to the law enforcement official who spoke to The Courant on the condition of anonymity.

Clark, 24, was arrested at a Super 8 Motel in Cromwell around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. He was charged with murder.

(Pictures: Annie Le Homicide Investigation)

One investigator, among a group of investigators who were in the lab interviewing employees and students shortly after Le disappeared, witnessed Clark trying to hide lab cleaning equipment that they discovered contained blood spatters. Clark was observed cleaning up areas that Le was in before she was reported missing, the law enforcement official said.............


Rumor control: No 2nd arrest pending

• By: Annie Rourke

New Haven (WTNH) - There is no known motive behind Annie Le's killing yet, but police feel confident in telling News Channel 8 that so far, the evidence points to just one person.

In the hours after the murder, the days of Annie Le's disappearance, did Raymond Clark have an accomplice?

New Haven Police Chief James Lewis says that is a false rumor.

"There's no second arrest pending," Lewis said.

They are not actively pursuing a warrant to arrest anyone else in the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le at this time.

In a sit-down interview with News Channel 8, the chief said he is limited on what he can comment on as the arrest warrant affidavit was sealed by the courts, so he could not answer directly if he believes Clark acted alone.

"I can't talk about that now cause that's in the sealed document," Lewis said.

But he says no other arrests are pending.

Speculation has been widespread because Clark's fiance, sister and brother-in-law all work at Yale, all at 10 Amistad St., the scene of the crime.

As the investigation was being passed from the FBI over to New Haven, the city's narcotics unit was assigned to tail Clark and to keep track of his movements at all times. But there were other people police had their eyes on.

"He wasn't the only one that we were keeping track of during different times in this investigation," Lewis said.........

latest update on raymond clark iii

from the beginning everyone was saying either ms le's fiance had something to do with this (i disputed that) OR a professor did this because he (or i guess she) was having an affair with her (i vehemently disputed this). some blog even had a whole big discussion about ms le's murder, astrology and her having a (possible) affair. i left a comment on that blog and they were cowards and never published it.

someone was arrested for this crime. it looks like the police did the right thing and waited for some mighty substantial evidence - and didn't just go with the circumstantial swipe card records. no one has gone to trial yet and no one has been proven guilty yet. the outlook is not good for the person they've arrested though


there are a great many additional links to articles about this case at the courant link below.

Clothing Contains DNA Of Victim Annie Le, Suspect Raymond Clark III, Source Says
By ALAINE GRIFFIN, DAVE ALTIMARI and DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant
NEW HAVEN - As hordes of FBI agents and Yale police combed the basement of a Yale University laboratory building for missing bride-to-be Annie Le, the man accused of killing her moved among them, in an apparent effort to cover his tracks, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said.

That behavior aroused investigators' suspicions about Raymond Clark III, but the final piece that led to his arrest Thursday morning was the discovery that evidence in the ceiling and in the crawl space where Le's body was found contained the DNA of both Le and Clark, according to the law enforcement official who spoke to The Courant on the condition of anonymity.

Clark, 24, was arrested at a Super 8 Motel in Cromwell around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. He was charged with murder.

(Pictures: Annie Le Homicide Investigation)

One investigator, among a group of investigators who were in the lab interviewing employees and students shortly after Le disappeared, witnessed Clark trying to hide lab cleaning equipment that they discovered contained blood spatters. Clark was observed cleaning up areas that Le was in before she was reported missing, the law enforcement official said.

A Superior Court judge Thursday granted New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington's request to keep secret the arrest warrant affidavit detailing the crime scene that was the site of Le's final moments.............



Yale Tech Charged With Annie Le's Murder

By LEANNE GENDREAU and XANA O'NEIL

A Yale lab tech has been charged in the slaying of graduate student Annie Le, whose body was found crammed behind a wall of a university building, cops said.

Raymond Clark III, 24, kept his eyes fixed his on the ground and remained silent as he was led out of his Cromwell, Conn., hotel room in handcuffs early this morning en route to the police precinct.

“Based on numerous interviews, forensic evidence and information learned from reviewing video surveillance, detectives have secured the arrest warrant for Clark,” New Haven Police Chief James Lewis said.

Clark appeared in court for three minutes, his bond was set at $3 million and he was sent to a holding cell. The warrant is sealed for 14 days, according to court papers........

Clark faces charges in Annie Le death
Story by: Jamie Muro
..................

The arrest warrant remains sealed, but New Haven Police Chief James Lewis says there was no romantic encounters between suspect and victim.

"I think it's important to note, it's not urban crime, it's not about university crime, it's not about domestic crime, but an issue of work place violence, which is a growing concern around the country," said Chief Lewis.

We do know Clark had been a potential suspect for days. Sources say Clark sent text messages to meet Le the day she disappeared.

Detectives also tracked Clark's movements in the building by his Yale key card, and there is information that based on his card access to certain rooms he was the last person to see Le alive.

"More than 300 items have been seized in this investigation, and detectives have worked around the clock on this case. Based on numerous interviews, forensic evidence, and viewing video from surveillance, detectives have secured an arrest warrant for Clark," said Chief Lewis..............

and here's a totally different take on this tragedy:

Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail

by Paul Bass |

A day after playing softball in New Haven and attending the Hebron Fair, the suspect in the murder of a Yale graduate student noticed the seven cops following him around. They wanted him to.

That word comes from Lt. John Velleca, head of New Haven police’s narcotics unit.

Chief James Lewis assigned Velleca’s crew to follow around Raymond Clark III (pictured) starting Saturday night — and never let him out of their sight.

That was when it became clear that the case of Annie Le, the 24 year-old pharmacology student strangled to death last week inside a Yale medical building, was becoming a criminal case, not a missing person case.

It was also clear by that time that Raymond Clark III was the prime suspect, Chief James Lewis said in an interview in his office Thursday morning following a press conference announcing Clark’s arrest.

Lewis’s department was preparing to take over the investigation from the FBI. That happened the following day, when Le’s remains were found inside a basement wall.

So Lewis assigned the narcotics unit to follow Clark’s every move while investigators plowed through tapes from 70 security cameras and what would become 300 pieces of physical evidence.

Why the narc unit?.............

another update on the annie le case

uncertain other cases have received the same attention. not exactly criticizing here, just stating something (and i'll say this again, while i am so very happy they have worked so very hard on this case, i'mi've perceived to be true

and also again, NO ONE has been arrested as of this moment. NO ONE has been actually accused of this horrid crime. by this posting i am in no way saying anyone is guilty. i don't know that. the article below has many bits of information in it. a lot of which came from 'confidential sources'. take that as you will (it sure is very INTERESTING i will say)

to the family and friends of ms le, my most sincere condolence and my thoughts and prayers are with you

Records Show Raymond Clark III Was Last To See Annie Le Alive, Source Says
By DAVE ALTIMARI, ALAINE GRIFFIN And JOSH KOVNER The Hartford Courant

NEW HAVEN - Computer records show that lab technician Raymond Clark III, a "person of interest" in the slaying of Yale graduate student Annie Le, was the last person to see her alive, a law-enforcement source told The Courant today.

Investigators traced Le's and Clark's movements through their computerized swipe cards, said the source, who is familiar with the investigation. Le entered the Yale laboratory at 10 Amistad St. at about 10 a.m. on Sept. 8. She passed through a basement lab area moments later. Then she swiped her way into a separate room of that lab.

Clark entered that same room a short time later, the source said, citing the computer records. Le was never seen again and her card was never used again.

Clark had moved around the laboratory area quite a bit that day, including entering rooms that he normally would not expected to be in, the source said.

Clark also swiped into another area -- the place where Le's body was eventually found after five days, stuffed into a 2-foot crawl space behind a wall.
......................

you were kick ass mary, AND you held your own

once again she paved the way. she was an inspiration. she was a talent. she was a delight.










Mary Travers of folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary dead at 72 after battle with cancer
JAY LINDSAY

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary Dies at 72
By WILLIAM GRIMES
Mary Travers, whose ringing, earnest vocals with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” enduring anthems of the 1960s protest movement, died on Wednesday at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. She was 72 and lived in Redding, Conn.

The cause was complications from chemotherapy associated with a bone-marrow transplant she had several years ago after developing leukemia, said Heather Lylis, a spokeswoman.

Ms. Travers brought a powerful voice and an unfeigned urgency to music that resonated with mainstream listeners. With her straight blond hair and willowy figure and two bearded guitar players by her side, she looked exactly like what she was, a Greenwich Villager directly from the clubs and the coffeehouses that nourished the folk-music revival.

“She was obviously the sex appeal of that group, and that group was the sex appeal of the movement,” said Elijah Wald, a folk-blues musician and a historian of popular music........

pic: from the nyt article

since i have already written about annie le

i'll post this as well. they've served a warrant on someone. a lab tech. someone who took care of the animals (research animals but that's a whole other subject). this is a person of interest. as far as i know, he has NOT been charged with any crimes yet. i am NOT saying he did anything


Police Serve Search Warrant In Annie Le Case
By JOSH KOVNER, JEFFREY B. COHEN, ALAINE GRIFFIN and DAVE ALTIMARI The Hartford Courant
Police Chief James Lewis said at a press conference Tuesday night that police executed a search warrant for the Middletown apartment of Raymond Clark III, a "person of interest" in the slaying of Yale student Annie Le. "We took him into custody to gather evidence from his body and his person," Lewis said. "If he cooperates he'll be released this evening." Lewis said the search warrant was for Apt. 1A at 40 Ferry St. in Middletown, where at 10:16 p.m. about 20 New Haven, state and federal law enforcement officers, armed with the search warrant, entered 40 Ferry St. An unmarked police car pulled up to the apartment building's front door, and then officers escorted a man in a white T-shirt out of the building and placed him in the car. Lewis said police have looked at 700 hours of videotape, interviewed 150 people and gathered 150 pieces of evidence in the case, some of which have DNA on them. He said that police are "trying to narrow down the list of suspects in this horrendous crime," and added that they haven't ruled out whether others were involved in the murder......
pic: john woike/hartford courant

more news on the murder of annie le

i don't know if this suspect is guilty or not. i DO know they must find whoever committed this heinous act.

once again my thoughts and prayers go out to ms le's family and friends


(as an aside, i'd also like to think our police forces and fbi spend as much time on ALL murders/disappearances. they don't though, do they?)


Cops Eye Lab Technician in Ivy League Murder

Worker in the building where Yale grad student's body was found is under investigation

By CAITLIN MILLAT

Cops said today they believe the murder of missing Yale grad student Annie Le was an inside job, centering their homicide investigation around a lab technician who worked in the building where Le's body was found stuffed inside a wall late Sunday evening six days after she went missing from the Ivy League campus.

Medical examiners ruled Le's death a homicide Monday but the cause of the petite 24-year-old's death has yet to be determined, the office said. Le was suspected dead since she went missing last week.

The announcement comes as cops began to investigate a lab technician in the slaying of the 24-year-old bride-to-be, whose body was found inside the wall of her laboratory building about a mile from the university's main New Haven campus on the day she was to be married.......

Thousands Mourn Yale Student's Death

By BEN SOSENKO

Candlelight filled the darkness Monday night as thousands gathered on the Yale campus to remember graduate state Annie Le. "As a Yale student, as a member of the New Haven Community, it's a hard night for me," said student Mary Ellen Kwasie.

Among the crowd was Natalie Powers, Le's roommate who had roomed with Le for the past 2 years during graduate school. "She was always kind, generous, honest, caring, the list keeps going," said Powers.

The service included a moment of silence that lasted for a more than 5 minutes, then from the darkness came the sounds of a violin playing Amazing Grace.

Yale President Richard Levin attended the vigil and tried to console the student body. "We find it incomprehensible that life can be so unjust. We must come together to talk with one another to try to understand," Levin said........

pic from the nbcconnecticut.com article

my thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of

annie le. what has to happen now is for the police to find the beast who did this. and find that person IMMEDIATELY

we were all hoping for something OTHER than this ending.


Body Found, Thought To Be Missing Yale Student Annie Le

William Weir Hartford Courant

NEW HAVEN - Police officials said Sunday night they have found a body inside the wall of a Yale University building and are assuming it to be that of Annie Le, the Yale graduate student missing since Tuesday.

The grim announcement was made on the day that Le, 24, was scheduled to be wed.

The body was found at 10 Amistad St., a research building in the Yale Medical School complex, where Le was last seen.

Assistant Police Chief Peter Reichard said state police found the body at approximately 5 p.m. As of late Sunday, the body had not been positively identified, but Reichard said that investigators are assuming for now that it is Le's body. The body was found inside a chase, a square area in a wall used to run pipes and wires from floor to floor. Police would not say which wall or what area of the building the body was found. Le's family has been contacted, he said.

(Pictures: Police Search For Annie Le)

Le, originally from Placerville, Calif., was to get married today at the North Ritz Club in Syosset, N.Y. to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University in New York. Police have said that he is not a suspect and is helping with the investigation. Reichard would not say if police have any suspects.

New Haven police are now the lead investigators in the case, which is now considered a homicide investigation. Yale University police, the FBI, state police and the New Haven state's attorney's office are assisting with the investigation.............

Police Seeking Missing Yale Student Find Body
By ANDY NEWMAN and LYNNLEY BROWNING
NEW HAVEN — It was supposed to have been Annie Le’s wedding night. But hours after the missing Yale graduate student was to have been married, investigators found a body stuffed inside a wall of the lab building where she was last seen alive on Tuesday.

While the remains had yet to be officially identified, Peter Reichard, the assistant New Haven police chief, said the authorities were assuming they were of Ms. Le, 24, a slight, California-bred daughter of Vietnamese immigrants who was studying pharmacology.

The discovery appeared to have ended the six-day search for Ms. Le that began with speculation of a runaway bride but quickly gave way to near certainty that a crime had been committed.

Yale University’s president, Richard C. Levin, wrote in an e-mail message to students Sunday night, “Our hearts go out to Annie Le’s family, fiancé and friends, who must suffer the additional ordeal of waiting for the body to be identified.”.........

Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found;
“A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
by Paul Bass and Melissa Bailey |

(Updated: 10:35 p.m.) Police found what they believe is the body of missing Yale med student Annie Le on the day she was to be married, ending a five-day manhunt that transfixed the nation.

New Haven police made the announcement at a press conference at 1 Union Ave. at 9 p.m. Sunday.

State police found human remains shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday inside a wall in the basement of 10 Amistad St., the Yale medical building where Le was last seen, according to Assistant Police Chief Pete Reichard and Yale President Richard Levin. Police have not yet identified the body, but they believe it is Annie Le (pictured).../

pic:

Yale University

Annie Le

smoke fire and angels is due out

on september 24th. it's the story of the avon mountain accident and those that it effected (far and wide). my friend mark robinson wrote it AND the proceeds from this book are going to a fund for the victims and their families. from what i've read (the first six chapters), it's mighty impressive.

the holidays are fast approaching. this would be a great gift for EVERYONE on your lists. please go to his website and read his story: smoke, fire and angels

note: mark tells me the book will be available at borders. however, they're gonna get THEIR cut. soooooooooo, please consider ordering it directly from mark's website above. no one gets a cut. the proceeds go to the fund.

i've already put in my INITIAL order (there will be more).

the smoke, fire and angels facebook page

just a couple of my previous postings

here
here
and
here

today is our day of caring

i don't know if it's national or just local (the actual name 'the day of caring'). my company ENCOURAGES volunteer work any way, any day of the year.

this day of caring, i'm going out and doing something for seniors in a local town (it was supposed to be yard work but it's raining and i don't think that's going to fly).

i can't think of a better way to honor those lost in 9/11 - than for us to help others that may need just a tiny bit of assistance. no one is forcing anyone to volunteer. it has to be real and it has to be from the heart. do you have an extra hour or two a week? a month? there are little brothers and sisters that need big brothers and sisters. there are infants in hospitals that need holding and rocking (not to mention knitted or crocheted blankets and caps), there are the elderly who could always use a meal or someone to dust for them or make them laugh, there is the local food bank that could use a hand packing produce, there is recording a book for the blind, there are so very many things. think about that extra couple of hours you have and what you really want to do with them.


Honoring the Dead by Serving the Living
Survivor Works to Grow A Day of Good Deeds

By Neely Tucker

Washington Post Staff Write

NEW YORK -- The taxi is blowing down FDR Drive, heading south, Ground Zero a mile or so ahead. Jay Winuk is letting a humid breeze blow in through an open window as he considers his dead brother's legacy and the meaning of 9/11.

For eight years, he and fellow public-relations executive David Paine have worked to make the anniversary of the terrorist attacks a national moment of something other than sorrow, something other than the day, amid thousands of other tragedies, Winuk's brother Glenn died while trying to rescue people in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Now on the cusp of a huge success, with congressional and presidential approval officially recognizing Sept. 11 as a day for people to do a good deed -- any good deed -- Winuk is adamant about what he doesn't want this day to become.............

united way day of caring central and northeast connecticut

i'm williung to shell out $.47 a month

to get my emergency 911 system updated. wow, this would be WONDERFUL if it happened. pictures and text messages and videos. it will not only help the victims but it will better aid the responders

i don't mind paying my taxes (or even an additional charge to a phone company or a town or whatever) for services like THIS or EDUCATION


West Hartford Gets Reports On Plans For 911 Improvements
By BILL LEUKHARDT The Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD — - Emergency call centers statewide are close to being able to receive emergency text messages, videos and pictures along with phone calls, the state's public safety commissioner told the town council Tuesday.

John Danaher said state telecommunication experts have been working for several years on plans to switch 911 reporting centers from the copper-wire technology now used in land-line phones to fiber-optic cables, enabling use of Internet-based calls, 911 texting and transmission of videos and pictures.

No state in the nation has this system yet, but Connecticut and California are closest to implementing the cutting-edge change, Danaher said.

He attended the meeting to talk about the state's research after reading a news report that the council would be discussing a proposal by council member Shari Cantor, who is urging the town to explore what's needed to make 911 texting a reality.

Prior to Danaher's talk, Cantor said she raised the issue in part because of the violent death of Alice Morrin, the Vernon woman who was shot to death by her estranged husband, James Morrin, on June 28...........

another must read from andy thibault at

the cool justice report

it's scary and sad and embarrassing. even though my skin isn't brown, i'm STILL afraid if things like this CONTINUE TO HAPPEN IN MY COUNTRY

Blockhead Judge To Profiling Victim: `I'm Not Listening ...'

Culminating Indignity
For Indian-American Falsely Incarcerated

"She Had No Interest
In The False Arrest."
-- Poet & Professor Ravi Shankar,
Central Connecticut State University

Official Proceedings
Criminal Court Of The State Of New York
Docket No.: 2009NY05478
Arraignment
Presiding, Judge Ruth Pickholz

By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Sept. 9, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

Poet Ravi Shankar was profiled, wrongly arrested and locked up for 36 hours in New York City. Even after cops called Shankar a "sand nigger" and hummed "Here Comes The Bride" as he walked in a manacled procession at 100 Centre St., the Central Connecticut State University professor had yet to endure his greatest indignity.
During his incarceration on a weekend in July, Shankar slept upright on a bench in perhaps several 20-and 30-minute interludes. There were fights among the many bodies on the floor in the holding tank. Shankar notice that virtually all of those held were minorities, some of them accused of petty crimes such as loitering, walking through a park at the wrong time [trespassing] or operating without a peddler's license.



Everyone shared the stench of the open-air toilet. Then, it got worse.

Shankar met Judge Ruth Pickholz.

Shankar's public defender, Victor Castelli, had reached an understanding with the prosecutor, Matthew Montana. There was a big mistake. Charges would be dropped.

"The warrant is not him, judge," Castelli said. "It says it's a 5' 10" white male [weighing 140 pounds] on the description that the police showed him …"...........

if you have to go into hartford today (around the downtown area)

DON'T

make other plans. call in sick. walk. sounds like it is NOT going to be too nice out there

Downtown Hartford To Experience Congestion Wednesday As Celebrity-Filled Seminar Comes To Town

By REGINE LABOSSIERE The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD— - Commuters, be warned: Wednesday morning's commute into downtown Hartford is expected to be a nightmare.

Thanks to Gen. Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Joe Montana, Rudy Giuliani and others, downtown Hartford will experience celebrity and traffic gridlock. They are taking part in a sold-out business seminar at the XL Center called "Get Motivated" at which they will speak to thousands of attendees via satellite from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Hoping to combat what is sure to be extra congestion, businesses and state offices are recommending that employees work from home, leave early for work, carpool, ride a bicycle or take public transportation.....

and here's a link to the nbc 30/connecticut traffic page

GOOD LUCK Y'ALL (i don't go into hartford. i go northish)

a big shout out to jennifer martin

her friends and family. i know it was very hard for them (the friends and family that is) to let you go. i also know from talking to your brother (yes, i've forgiven him. everyone knows you CANNOT STAY MAD at juan marteen) you HAD to go. please be well always. this is one hell of a selfless act


Off to Kabul
Hartford nurse Jennifer Martin is taking on the challenge of her life in Afghanistan
By Daniel D'Ambrosio

On Sunday, Connecticut nurse Jennifer Martin flew out of Boston for the first leg of her two-day journey to Kabul, Afghanistan. Following stopovers in London and Dubai, where she secured a multi-entry visa, Martin, 34, arrived at the CURE International hospital in the capital of this war-weary nation, and took over as director of nursing in the 100-bed facility first salvaged by Coalition Forces in 2005, according to CURE. She'll supervise a staff of 90 nurses in CURE'S largest facility.

Quick to laugh, her face framed by curly red hair, Martin explained in a West Hartford coffee shop last week that she had spent three weeks in Kabul last summer volunteering for CURE, a nonprofit launched in 1996 to bring health care to women and children in some of the world's most impoverished countries. And now she was going back.....

pic: from the advocate

Jennifer Martin moved to Kabul to help run a nursing facility in war-torn Afghanistan.

rep. chris murphy seems to have some stones

he's out and about and using his HEAD and taking steps in a positive direction. why can't the REST of you grow some stones too?

thanks chris for not just talking the talk, but walking the walk!


U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy Says He's Willing To Switch Health Plans
By DON STACOM The Hartford Courant
NEW BRITAIN — - U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy says he's willing to do more than just talk about health care reform: He'll try it himself.

"Everyone should have some scratch in the game," Murphy told a crowd of state retirees Thursday. "I should be willing to put myself at risk."

Murphy, a second-term Democrat representing the 5th District, said that if President Barack Obama's reform initiative becomes law, he'd get off the general health insurance plan that members of Congress enjoy.

Addressing about 60 retirees at the AFSCME Council 4 headquarters, Murphy said that he'll promote that idea to Democrats and Republicans alike when Congress returns from its break.

"I think members of Congress should be willing to come off the federal system, and I'll be pushing to have them go on a health insurance exchange," Murphy said.

The Obama plan would create a government-backed nonprofit insurance option to compete against private insurers.......

sunflower blogging

at the half door

as i have mentioned, only ONE made it through this year but it's a HUGE one. bigger than i've ever grown

et tu connecticut?

where is all of this bullshite nazi facist socialist crap coming from anyway? if ANYONE put the law and the constitution aside, if ANYONE lied, if ANYONE tried to indoctrinate (i.e. suppressing global warming documents), if ANYONE didn't protect it's OWN effing citizens (i.e. katrina) it WAS KING GEORGE AND THE BIG DICK.

my posting on my other blog

Even In Blue State Connecticut, Obama's Speech To Kids Meets Resistance
By GRACE E. MERRITT The Hartford Courant
The firestorm around President Barack Obama's plans to address the nation's schoolchildren Tuesday in a webcast has made only a small ripple in Connecticut.

While elsewhere in the country, some conservative pundits and Republican leaders, including the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, have criticized Obama's speech and accompanying lesson plan as propaganda, Connecticut educators and others say they support or at the very least don't object to it.

The speech, to be broadcast at noon, is expected to encourage students to stay in school, graduate and go to college.

Some school districts in Fairfield County, including Bethel, have decided not to tune in Tuesday because they want to screen the speech first and decide how and when to integrate it into their curriculum.

"We've gotten a surprising number of phone calls from people who said 'This is Nazism, this is socialism or indoctrination.' That isn't it at all. We don't invite guest speakers in without knowing what the message is first," Bethel School Superintendent Gary Chesley said.......

i need to share this story

it's not mine, but it could be mine. i do believe in racial profiling. well i mean to say, i believe it happens. no, i KNOW it happens. i would like to think and believe it DOES NOT happen in west hartford. it seems i'm wrong though.

i have seen it in hartford and i have seen it in avon (witnessed first hand). i've not witnessed it in west hartford and i hope and pray this was a fluke
the blog the following came from hartford imc is published under a creative commons license. so i'm publishing ms lo bue's post in full. it is from august 26th

A Lesson in Privilege From the WHPD
by Lauren Lo Bue
Following the incident detailed below, I wrote this to share with friends. I realized, though, that other people might want to hear it and that it’s really quite relevant as a testimony to racial profiling in Hartford (and in general). So, here it is, in its unedited glory:

Last night, around 10 pm, Opton and I left Hartford for Queens. We passed a West Hartford PD car parked in the Deangelo’s parking lot on the way to the highway and he turned out on to the street behind us and followed us on to 84. About 15 seconds later, he pulled us over. Obviously Opton was going the speed limit; he’s Mr. Safety First. We both had our seatbelts on. He’d used his signals correctly. I couldn’t think of a legitimate reason for them to pull us over, and as my anxiety was building I looked over and saw a sort of resigned, knew-this-would-happen look on his face. The cop came up to the car and shined a flashlight directly into the car – on Opton’s lap, on his face, on mine, and told him that… you ready? The plastic frame around his license plate was obscuring the “Constitution State” on the bottom.

Yup. That plastic frame that nearly everyone has on their rear license plates. Go look at yours. Is it obscuring a bit of the bottom half of your license plate? Of course it is. It does that on nearly everyone’s vehicles. Other than that, the lights above his license plate were working and properly illuminating it, and the license number was completely visible.

He then collected his information, and asked for my identification.

He then asked Opton to get out of the vehicle.

He took Opton to the back of the car and began grilling him. Another cop car pulled up behind us. He had called for back-up. That officer came over to my side of the car and began grilling me. How do I know this man? Where did we meet? Where do I live? Where does he live? What does he do? What did I study in school? Where are we coming from? Where are we heading to? Remember now — the stated reason for being pulled over was the plastic frame on his license plate.

I find out later that he is being asked the same questions at this time.

Obviously, they were convinced that a white girl was being abducted by a black guy. They were trying to figure out whether he actually knew me or not.

After about a 15 minutes of questions, they had nothing left to ask us and no more reasons to detain us. They told him to “remove the frame around the license.” And they let us go.

I can’t say I’m surprised or shocked. But at the time it was the strangest feeling of reality truly matching my theoretical understanding of racism for the first time in my life. As a white girl, I’d never experienced a situation where racism seriously posed a threat first-hand. Last night I was terrified that my boyfriend was going to jail. And he would have if they’d searched the car — a friend of ours accidentally left his knife in Opton’s back seat. The knife didn’t have a latch — it was illegal, and we’d said that there were no illegal weapons in the car. We didn’t know our friend had left it there until Opton found it this morning. Insanely luckily, they did not search the car, but they could have easily contrived some bullshit pretense to do so. I mean, the reason we got pulled over to begin with is complete and total bullshit. (Side note: We have no rights. The police are the worst gang in town.)

I have been pulled over before — for actually doing something wrong. No one shined a flashlight in my face, and no one asked me to step out of the car. I didn’t even get a ticket.

I’m not telling you all this because it’s news to any of you. It shouldn’t be, and I know for most of you it isn’t. But it helps to have real-life experiences and stories from people you know to fuel the fire when it comes to anti-racist activism, so I decided to share this with you all.

i'm incensed

this is absolutely ridiculous. need i remind everyone of phillip garrido? i wrote about what i think about rapists here just the other day.

did campbell get a reduced sentence because the girl was 'challanged'? or was it because she was a girl and after all they don't matter as much as boys? i don't know the reason(s) behind this. there is nothing that could justify this to me. NOTHING

Suspended Sentence For East Hartford Man Convicted Of Sexual Assault

By DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD — - An East Hartford man whose trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a mentally challenged girl was to begin later this month was convicted of reduced charges Wednesday in Superior Court.

Shaun Campbell, 21, who faced a single count of first-degree assault, pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to three counts of coercion.

He admitted to Superior Court Judge David P. Gold that he induced the girl, beginning when she was 12 or 13 and until she was 16, to have sex with him by making her fear he'd commit a crime against her. The abuse came to light when the girl told a counselor at East Hartford High School about it.

With an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes that the state has enough evidence to win a conviction.........

what up wit connecticut mayors?

east haven and of course hartford's own

oh yesssssssssssssssssssss

arrest his ass! the king of the city is (i hope with all my heart and soul) going down. besides a general dislike of him, i think he really DOES think he's king of the city. the last straw was anointing himself as overlord of the board of ed. hey eddie YOU GOTTA GO. to the good peeps of hartford, this AIN'T providence and eddie AIN'T buddy cianci. why do you keep voting for him?


Perez To Be Arrested Again

By

Jeffrey B. Cohen

UPDATE: Perez says he will not resign, he will fight the charges against him, and that "the truth is on my side."

A state court judge has signed a warrant to arrest Mayor Eddie A. Perez, Perez's attorney Hubert Santos said today.

"I can confirm that a warrant has been issued for the mayor's arrest in connection with allegations involving former state Rep. Abraham Giles," Santos said. "He's going to complete his term as mayor."

Perez and Santos are holding a news conference today at 5:30 p.m.
John J. Kelly, Giles' attorney, would not say whether his client would be arrested. "I will be able to say something when something official happens," Kelly said.

Kelly has previously said in a document filed with the state Supreme Court that the grand
juror investigating the mayor had found probable cause that his client - who he did not name
- had committed two crimes........

When will enough be enough?
By

Helen Ubinas

For all the rumors that El Jefe was going to resign before being rearrested -- and man have those rumors been swirling -- it turns out that so far, it's nothing but wishful thinking.

In one of the shortest press conferences I've ever attended, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez said he wasn't going anywhere because "the truth is on my side."

My question, whose truth? But I digress.
Here are some of the mayor's more telling statements :
"Let me be clear: I will not resign.

"I am confident that I will be acquitted of all charges and my reputation restored."

"I will continue to serve the citizens of Hartford as their mayor and continue to make Hartford a better place for all of us."
.............

'shroom

yes, PINK

julia and spiro got married saturday at

honora winery and vineyard in west halifax vermont. it was wonderful and beautiful and touching and fun. since most if not all of their friends are in the service industry (his from the half door and hers from max's, they got school buses to lug us from the the grand summit hotel at mount snow to the vineyard. wicked smart. it would have been a treatcherous drive even if we weren't a bunch of drunken assholes. dirt roads up and down the green mountains. wow wow wow. anyway we all got there and back to the hotel safely.

the hotel was very nice as well. giant fireplace in the front lobby. it was lit when we got back from the wedding. the fireplace at the vineyard was lit later on as well. both were the middle of the room ones, stone, open on all four sides.

i will say many people (not me this time believe it or not) turned into drunken monsters. i don't mind drunk (as long as you're not driving). i do mind monsters. i do mind when you do bad things or disrespectful things. 'nuff said

i'm not a person who gets star struck. julia has a famous uncle. her uncle happens to be in the rock n' roll hall of fame. we can't ALL say that. he was a genuinely nice and funny man. i know he'll never read this BUT i just wanted to apologize for not GETTING HIS JOKE. i am really not stupid and i really wasn't drunk either. the lightbulb just didn't go on till a day after. yes steven, I KNOW PINK IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR

here are just a couple of photos.