WGGB Springfield » Offbeat

Conn. Foster Mom Pleads Guilty for Spoon-Spanking

Ryan Trowbridge — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:01:49 +0000

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut foster mother faces 100 days in jail after acknowledging she spanked a 4-year-old girl with a wooden spoon.

Jami Littlefield pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court in Norwich to third-degree assault.

The Day of New London reports Littlefield told authorities she paddled the girl on the buttocks because she was acting out.

Littlefield was arrested in January after the girl’s biological mother noticed bruises on her daughter’s bottom when the child bent over to pick up a toy during a supervised visit.

Police say Littlefield initially denied hitting the child but later said she spanked the girl only after the child struck her granddaughter, spat at her and used a racial slur.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17.

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Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com

NYC Artist’s Secret Photos Raise Privacy Concerns

Spencer Allan Brooks — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:52:22 +0000

Neighbors #17, Arne Svenson, 2012, Julie Saul Gallery (Image credit: Julie Saul Gallery)

NEW YORK (AP) – In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

In all the photos, taken by New York City artist Arne Svenson from his second-floor apartment, the faces are obscured or not shown. The people are unidentifiable.

But the residents of a glass-walled luxury residential building across the street had no idea they were being photographed and they never consented to being subjects for the works of art that are now on display – and for sale – in a Manhattan gallery.

“I don’t feel it’s a violation in a legal sense but in a New York, personal sense there was a line crossed,” said Michelle Sylvester, who lives in the residential building called the Zinc Building, which stands out with its floor-to-ceiling windows in a neighborhood of cobblestone streets and old, brick warehouse buildings.

Svenson’s apartment is directly across the street, just to the south, giving him a clear view of his neighbors by simply looking out his window.

“I think there’s an understanding that when you live here with glass windows, there will be straying eyes but it feels different with someone who has a camera,” Sylvester said.

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Svenson’s show, “The Neighbors,” opened last Saturday at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea, where about a dozen large prints are on sale for up to $7,500. His exhibit is drawing a lot of attention, not for the quality of the work, but for the manner in which it was made.

Svenson did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but says in material accompanying the exhibit that the idea for it came when he inherited a telephoto lens from a friend, a birdwatcher who recently died.

“For my subjects there is no question of privacy; they are performing behind a transparent scrim on a stage of their own creation with the curtain raised high,” Svenson says in the gallery notes. “The Neighbors don’t know they are being photographed; I carefully shoot from the shadows of my home into theirs.”

That explanation has done little to satisfy some residents of the Zinc Building, where a penthouse was once listed at nearly $6 million. In an email circulating among the building’s owners and renters this week, a resident whose apartment was depicted in Svenson’s photographs suggested legal recourse against the artist.

“I am not an expert in this area of the law, but I do think we may have some rights and the ability to stop this,” the email reads. “I love art, but find this to be an outrageous invasion of privacy.”

Civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel said that according to New York civil rights law, there may be a way for Svenson’s subjects to challenge him in court but the case will depend entirely on context.

“The question for the person who’s suing is, if you’re not identifiable, then where’s the loss of privacy?” he said. “These issues are a sign of the times. How do you balance the right of privacy vis-à-vis the right of artistic expression?”

Linda Darcia, an exchange student from Colombia living with a family on the sixth floor facing Svenson’s studio, said she had no idea whether or not she was depicted in any of the pieces but she was anxious to go to the gallery and find out.

“I’m not really upset about it because that’s his job,” she said. “But maybe he should have asked before the gallery opens. Everybody’s talking about it.”

Md. City Lowers Voting Age for Its Elections to 16

Spencer Allan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:27:26 +0000

A small Maryland city just outside the Washington, D.C., city limits has voted to lower the voting age for city elections to 16.

The Takoma Park City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city elections starting in November.

The council also voted to allow convicted felons who have served their time to vote.

Councilman Tim Male, who voted for the measure, told WJLA-TV (http://wj.la/12yVSqi) that elected officials are trying to make it possible for more people to be part of the city government.

The lone councilmember to vote against the measure wanted the issue put to referendum.

Takoma Park, known as a liberal-leaning community, has a population of about 17,000. The law takes effect in 50 days.

Wash. Baby Bitten by Bat Treated for Rabies

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:50:29 +0000

PASCO, Wash. (AP) — A baby is being treated for rabies after it was bitten by a bat that flew out of a patio umbrella on the deck of her grandparents’ Pasco home, the Tri-City Herald reported Tuesday.

Dan and Sandra Anderson were babysitting 11-month-old Alanna on Saturday evening when Dan Anderson opened the umbrella and Sandra Anderson noticed something flutter out toward Alanna.

“It was weird. I thought maybe it was moths,” Sandra Anderson said.

Then she saw the bat clinging to Alanna’s back near her left shoulder. She brushed the bat away and then noticed two pair of tiny bite marks, even though the bat had been on the baby only a few seconds.

Alanna didn’t cry — until she noticed how upset her grandmother was. The baby was given shots at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland. Her grandparents are getting vaccine shots for rabies, too, as a precaution.

The family thought it had seen the last of the bat, but they were on the patio again Sunday for Mother’s Day when they noticed something black inside the closed umbrella.

This time, Alanna’s father, Derek Anderson, killed it with a piece of metal. He turned it over to the Benton Franklin Health Department and it tested positive for rabies.

The virus can be fatal without medical attention.

“I’m thankful we saw the bat on her and could take her for treatment,” said Sandra Anderson.

“Everything’s fine. It’s 100 percent curable,” Derek Anderson said.

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Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com

Space Not the Final Frontier for Viewing New “Star Trek” Movie

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:34:25 +0000

(AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Zade Rosenthal)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The crew of the International Space Station is boldly going where no one has gone before — to see the new “Star Trek” film.

The three astronauts were offered a sneak peak of “Star Trek Into Darkness” days before it opens Thursday on Earth, seeing it not in 3-D, but Zero-G.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said the movie was beamed up to the outpost Monday and the two Russians and American on board had a day off Tuesday. That gave them a chance to view it on their laptops. It’s unclear if they watched it.

U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy is taking part Thursday in a Google+ hangout that’s bringing together two Earth-bound astronauts, film stars Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho, and its director and screenwriter.

Wisconsin Boy Receives Handwritten Response from Biden

Ryan Trowbridge — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:03:45 +0000

(AP Photo/Jenny Aicher)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — It might not be unusual for schoolchildren to write to the president or vice president. But one Wisconsin boy got an unexpectedly personal response.

The 7-year-old, second-grade student at Downtown Montessori Academy wrote a letter to Vice President Joe Biden and other officials a few months ago with a simple idea for making the world safer.

His teacher Jenny Aicher says his letter suggested that if guns shot chocolate bullets, no one would get hurt.

The student — and the rest of the school — got a surprise Monday when Biden’s handwritten response arrived in the mail.

In the note, the vice president says he agrees that chocolate bullets would make the country safer and happier. The note concludes: “People love chocolate. You are a good boy, Joe Biden.”

Police: Mass. Assault Prompted by ‘Too Many Pickles’

Ryan Trowbridge — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:50:26 +0000

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — Police say a Quincy woman is facing charges for allegedly punching a restaurant worker who put “too many pickles” on her steak and cheese sandwich.

Transit police say 49-year-old Tina Drouin ordered the sub from Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs in the Quincy Center subway/commuter rail station on Saturday afternoon.

Police say Drouin started loudly complaining, used a profanity, and demanded a refund.

When she was refused, she allegedly punched the worker in the face and pushed two large jars filled with pickles at the woman, knocking her over and shattering the jars.

She fled, but was followed by the worker, who held her until police arrived.

Drouin told police the worker put “too many pickles” on her sub.

She’ll be summoned to court to face an assault charge.

Surgeon: Stonewall Jackson Death Likely Pneumonia

Ryan Trowbridge — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:00:16 +0000

(AP Photo/File)

By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press

Historians and doctors have debated for decades what medical complications caused the death of legendary Confederate fighter Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, felled by friendly fire from his troops during the Civil War.

Shot three times while returning from scouting enemy lines in the Virginia wilderness, Jackson was badly wounded in the left arm by one of the large bullets the night of May 2, 1863. Blood gushed from a severed artery. It took at least two hours to get him to a field hospital, and Jackson was dropped twice in a stretcher before his arm was amputated. He died days later at 39.

Scholars have long questioned whether it was an infection or pneumonia that killed Jackson, who gained the nickname “Stonewall” early in the war and went on to be lionized in the South and feared in the North because of his military exploits.

On Friday, the 150th anniversary of Jackson’s death, a trauma surgeon with experience on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan revealed his diagnosis of Jackson’s death after reinvestigating the medical record. After reviewing the 1860s files and subsequent reports, University of Maryland surgeon and professor Joseph DuBose told The Associated Press that Jackson most likely died of pneumonia.

DuBose is confirming the original diagnosis given by Jackson’s personal physician, the famed Confederate doctor Hunter H. McGuire.

“You would be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified than him for the treatment of this injury and taking care of Stonewall Jackson,” DuBose said. “I do defer to him in some regard. I kind of have to. He’s not only the treating physician; he’s also the only source of information.”

McGuire’s original medical notes were lost when he was captured by Union soldiers. He recreated them from memory three years later for the Richmond Medical Journal.

Pneumonia was common in the Civil War, becoming the third most fatal disease for soldiers.

Jackson was the subject of an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore that reviews medical diagnoses of historical figures. In the past, researchers have reviewed the deaths of Alexander the Great, Edgar Allan Poe and Abraham Lincoln, among others.

DuBose is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, where Jackson was a professor before the Civil War. A large statue of Jackson stands near the campus barracks. So, his legacy and death were ingrained in DuBose’s experience as a cadet.

Jackson was shot by soldiers from the 18th North Carolina regiment in a moment of confusion. He had led a surprise attack in the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, and the Confederates drove Union forces back about three miles. Civil War historian James I. Robertson Jr. recounts that Jackson wasn’t satisfied and rode out at night to review the enemy’s position. When he rode back, he was shot by his own soldiers.

Then, being dropped during a frantic nighttime rescue may well have contributed to Jackson’s death, DuBose found.

“If he had been dropped and had a pulmonary contusion, or bruise of the lung, it creates an area of the lung that doesn’t clear secretions real well, and it can be a focus that pneumonia can start in,” DuBose said. “That’s probably what happened in this particular instance.”

DuBose, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said pulmonary embolism — a blockage of the major blood vessel in the lung — still occurs in nearly 6 percent of combat casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is even more common among those who have amputations, as Jackson did.

Still, the debate will continue over Jackson’s death.

Dr. Philip Mackowiak, an internist who organizes the conference each year, said he differs with DuBose on the Jackson case. He reviewed the records and said he believes a recurrent pulmonary emboli destroyed Jackson’s lung over time, leading to his death. The medical records don’t describe Jackson coughing, as one would expect with pneumonia, Mackowiak said.

It’s impossible to know for sure what killed Jackson. But DuBose said modern medicine could have saved him. Jackson’s doctor didn’t have the tools or knowledge to treat the complications after the shooting.

Robertson, a former Virginia Tech historian and professor who wrote Jackson’s biography, said he has been persuaded that sepsis, caused by severe infection, killed Jackson, due to his chaotic rescue and unsanitary conditions. He noted, though, doctors at the time agreed Jackson had pneumonia.

“Unfortunately, medicine in the mid-19th century was still in the dark ages,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not overly concerned with how he died. I’m terribly concerned that he died.”

Jackson was a pivotal figure and perhaps the most esteemed soldier in the war, Robertson said. He was known for secrecy and speed to execute surprise flank attacks for Gen. Robert E. Lee’s strategy.

“He was killed in what may be the high-water mark of the Confederacy,” Robertson said. “You can make a case that after Chancellorsville, it’s just a question of time for Lee.”

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Historical Clinicopathological Conference: http://medicalalumni.org/historicalcpc/home

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Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat

Fla. Man Attacked by Alligator while Fleeing Deputies

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:20:03 +0000

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Florida man ran from the law and into an alligator’s jaws.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says 20-year-old Bryan Zuniga was pulled over for failing to maintain a single lane Thursday at about 2:50 a.m.

Deputies say Zuniga stopped the vehicle and jumped out of the passenger door. He then broke through a vinyl fence and escaped.

The Tampa Bay area man was found at a local hospital a few hours later. He told deputies he had been attacked by an alligator near a water treatment plant. He was being treated for multiple puncture wounds to the face, arm and armpit area.

He has been charged with fleeing police, driving with a suspended or revoked license and resisting an officer without violence.

Lynn Cemetery Commission Says No to Profanity on Headstones

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:36:48 +0000

LYNN, Mass. (AP) — Commissioners at a Lynn cemetery have said no to profanity on headstones.

Pine Grove Cemetery commissioners this week unanimously rejected a family’s request to inscribe their loved one’s gravestone with a verse that panel said included two swear words.

Sonny Santiago was a rapper who died in a car crash in February.

The commission became aware of the verse when the company inscribing the three-foot tall memorial submitted drawings to commissioners.

Chairman Arthur Dulong tells The Daily Item of Lynn the commission has never had a problem with profanities on memorials before.

Santiago’s sister-in-law, Angela Ventola, says city officials contacted the family about the inscription and they agreed to have the gravestone inscribed with a different, profanity-free verse from a song Santiago wrote.

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Information from: The (Lynn, Mass.) Daily Item, http://itemlive.com

Jacob, Sophia Top List of Popular Baby Names

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:11:17 +0000

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Talk about high expectations for a newborn: King and Messiah are among the fastest-rising baby names for American boys.

They’re just a little behind Major, the boy’s name that jumped the most spots on the Social Security Administration’s annual list of popular baby names.

Jacob is the most popular for boys — again — and Sophia is the top name for girls, according to the list released Thursday.

It was Jacob’s 14th straight year at the top. Next were Mason, Ethan, Noah and William. Liam cracked the top 10 for the first time, coming in at No. 6. Daniel slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since 1998, to No. 11.

It was Sophia’s second year in a row at the top for girls. Next were Emma, Isabella, Olivia and Ava.

But what about those rising boys’ names?

Typically, says Laura Wattenberg, author of “The Baby Name Wizard” and founder of Babynamewizard.com, “You don’t get a lot of Messiahs. You can have a lot more Majors.”

“I have no doubt Major’s rising popularity as a boy’s name is in tribute to the brave members of the U.S. military, and maybe we’ll see more boys named General in the future,” said acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin.

Wattenberg said Americans have long given their children “aggrandizing names.” She noted that Noble and General were on the list of popular boys’ names for much of the 20th century, though neither ever cracked the top 100.

“We’ve pretty much run out of presidential names, all the Jeffersons and Jacksons and Madisons, so we’re moving on to the aristocracy, I guess, or to the military.”

Jennifer Moss, author of “The One-in-a-Million Baby Name Book” and founder of Babynames.com, says she discourages parents from giving children “expectation names, like Justice and Chastity.”

“We feel that it kind of puts an undue pressure on the child when you use those kinds of grandiose or purity names,” Moss said.

Chastity was in the top 1,000 for more than two decades before dropping off the list in 1994. Justice was on the list in 1880 but then fell off for more than 100 years. The name reappeared in 1992 and was No. 518 last year.

Jacob’s popularity endures because the name has much of what parents look for in a boy’s name, said Moss.

“It’s easy to pronounce, and it’s easy to spell. It’s a solid manly name,” she said. “It’s a biblical name, and biblical names are always in style.”

On the girls’ side, Sophia first cracked the top 100 in 1997. Isabella dropped off the list from 1949 to 1990.

The Social Security Administration’s website provides lists of the top 1,000 baby names for each year, dating to 1880. The top baby names that year were John and Mary. John is now No. 28 and Mary has fallen to No. 123 — the lowest for both names.

The list, which also includes top baby names by state, draws millions of viewers. The agency hopes that people go to the website to see the baby names and stay to learn about other services.

The website also shows which names are gaining — and losing — popularity. Among the boys’ names that are spiking, Major jumped 505 spots, to No. 483, followed by Gael, Jase, Messiah and Brantley. Messiah gained 246 spots, to No. 387.

Jase Robertson is a character on the reality TV show “Duck Dynasty,” about a family that runs a business making duck calls and other duck hunting gear. Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.

Among the other boys’ names gaining in popularity: Maverick, Armani and King, which jumped 133 spots, to No. 256.

Among the rising girls’ names, Arya jumped 298 spots, to No. 413, followed by Perla, Catalina, Elisa and Raelynn. And Raelyn with one ‘n’ was eighth.

Arya Stark is a character in the TV show, “Game of Thrones.”

Among the girls’ names that are losing popularity, Dulce dropped the most, 159 spots, to No. 574. Next were Mikaela, Estrella, Danna and Audrina.

Among the boys’ names that dropped, Braeden fell 105 spots, to No. 581. Next were Yahir, Kieran, Cullen and Brayan.

The popularity of Cullen was fleeting. In 2010, it was the fastest rising name for boys. Edward Cullen is vampire in the “Twilight” books and movies.

The list shows that top names for boys have been more stable over the years than names for girls. William, for example, has been a popular boy’s name for more than 100 years, never falling out of the top 20. Mason is an exception, entering the top 100 for the first time in 1997.

Today’s top names aren’t nearly as popular as the top names were a generation ago.

For example, 18,899 babies were named Jacob last year. Two decades ago, that wasn’t good enough to crack the top 25. In 1992, Michael was the top name for boys, with more than 54,000 boys getting the name.

“We’re seeing a total revolution in terms of the diversity of naming,” Wattenberg said. “Parents are really focused on choosing a distinctive name that will make their child stand out.”

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You can CLICK HERE to see the entire list and other interesting historical data.

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Statue of Lobster Stolen from Conn. Seafood Company

Ryan Trowbridge — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:45:28 +0000

(Photo Courtesy: Gulf Shrimp Company)

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Southington police are on the lookout for a 5 1/2 foot fiberglass lobster.

Police say someone has stolen the lobster statue from in front of Gulf Shrimp, a local seafood company.

Camille Simoneaux, the co-owner of Gulf Shrimp, tells WVIT-TV employees realized the statue was missing over the weekend and called police.

She says the lobster is worth about $2,000, but more important, it’s a local landmark, and good advertising for the business.

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Information from: WVIT-TV, http://www.nbcconnecticut.com

NJ Governor ‘Saves’ Children from Spider

Ryan Trowbridge — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:09:05 +0000

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasn’t in a pardoning mood when an itsy, bitsy spider crawled on his desk while he spoke to a group of schoolchildren.

The students spotted the arachnid near the governor’s phone on Friday. Speaking softly, Christie gave the spider a smack down.

The governor told the students that one fun part of being governor is you’re allowed to kill any bugs on your desk without getting into trouble.

Christie tweeted that he had “saved a few school children from a spider.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals President Ingrid Newkirk issued a statement saying Christie probably killed it without thinking. Newkirk said “some people put the spider outside, but spiders are often scary” and that can prevent people from pondering their worth.

Associated Press

Official: Shiny Dog Bowl Sparks Calif. House Fire

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:13:46 +0000

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California couple might be able to blame this one on the dog.

Authorities say sun refracted off the dog’s shiny water bowl and ignited a fire at Terry and Shay Weisbrich’s Santa Rosa home on Wednesday afternoon.

The fire was quickly put out, but it left a hole in the siding.

The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reports that a fire department engineer helped discover the dog bowl’s role in the fire.

Rene Torres returned the bowl to its original position during his investigation of the fire’s cause. He found it concentrated light right on the area of the home that was charred.

The Press Democrat says the couple’s dog, Toby, had a replacement bowl by the evening.

Nice Weather Brings Ice Cream Truck Turf War in NY

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:57 +0000

(CNN) — A battle is brewing between rival ice cream truck drivers in an upstate New York neighborhood.

Out of a job, Philip Hollister decided to start selling frozen desserts for Mr. Ding-a-Ling to earn cold cash for his family.

“I figured I could be self-employed doing this and knowing a lot of kids in the neighborhood being here a number of years, I could maybe, possibly help my family pay some bills and take some pressure off my wife,” says Hollister.

Starting with his first day on the job, there was no good humor.

Hollister says he was followed by the owners of competing ice cream truck, Sno Cone Joe, blasting their music and shouting free ice cream to potential customers.

“If I have someone behind me blaring their music and offering free ice cream, it’s a little ridiculous,” Hollister adds.

At times, he also claims the other truck got aggressive, claiming they control the ice cream market in Gloversville, N.Y.

“The driver of the other truck, Sno Cone Joe, followed me to the left, followed me to the right.”

Hollister went to the police over his concerns it could put his young customers at risk.

Police arrested Sno Cone Joe owners 21-year-old Amanda Scott and 34-year-old Josh Malatino for harassment and stalking, and it’s not the first time this issue has allegedly come up.

Hollister notes, “It’s been an ongoing issue with other vendors that have been trying to sell ice cream in goversville. I never planned on this happening. I just wanted to try and help my family out, make a few bucks, have fun and put some smiles on children’s faces. It’s unfortunate that it came to this.”

Man Claims Rigged Carnival Game Cost Him Life Savings

Ryan Trowbridge — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:45:07 +0000

(CNN) — A New Hampshire man says his trip to the carnival was a horror show where he ended up losing his life savings. He claims he was conned at a carnival game.

Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings – $2,600 – on a carnival game and all he has to show for it is this stuffed banana with dreadlocks.

“You’re expecting the kids to win a few things, let the kids have a good time. It just didn’t turn out that way,” says Gribbohm.

Gribbohm adds he attended a Manchester carnival run by Fiesta Shows and wanted to win an XBox Kinect at a game called “Tubs of Fun,” where contestants toss balls into a tub.

When he practiced, Gribbohm says it was easy but something changed when he started playing and the balls kept popping out. “It’s not possible that it wasn’t rigged,” he says.

He says he kept trying to win back his money by going double or nothing. He dropped $300 in just a few minutes, then says he went home to get $2,300 more and soon lost all that as well.

“I know it’s a difficult game. I’ve tried it myself. I’ve done it once, missed probably 20 times,” says John Flynn, vice president of Fiesta Shows.

Fiesta Shows says the game is run by an independent contractor who’s worked for Fiesta for years. It’s interviewing the contractor to see what happened.

“[Are there any scams at all with any of the games?] Not that I’m aware of. We’ve had a lot of these game operators with us for years,” Flynn adds.

The traveling carnival is now setting up in Derry, N.H. but you will not see “Tubs of Fun.” Fiesta says the independent contractor that runs the game is not allowed to set up, while an investigation is taking place.

“Because you get caught up in the whole double or nothing, I’ve got to win my money back,”

Gribbohm says he went back the next day to complain, and the man running the game gave him back $600. He split with the banana and the cash, and filed a report with Manchester Police.

“For once in my life, I happened to become that sucker.”

Police say they’re investigating to determine if there was any fraud. Gribbohm says he’s considering a lawsuit.

Diamond Donating `Caroline’ Sales after Bombings

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:45:55 +0000

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Diamond is donating some of this week’s sales from “Sweet Caroline” after the tune became a source of comfort following the explosions at the Boston Marathon.

Sales from Diamond’s song are up by 597 percent, Nielsen SoundScan said Wednesday. Diamond’s representative said the singer will donate the recent sales to marathon bombing victims.

“Sweet Caroline” sold 19,000 tracks this week. It sold 2,800 tracks the previous week and 1.75 million tracks to date.

The crowd-pleasing song is a staple of Boston Red Sox games. It makes no specific mention of Boston or the Red Sox, but the team started playing it regularly at Fenway Park more than a decade ago and fans took to it.

The New York Yankees, Toronto Raptors and other professional sports teams also have played the song at games in the days after the deadly blasts April 15.

Diamond released “Sweet Caroline” in 1969. The song was inspired by Caroline Kennedy’s name.

Associated Press

Conn. House Votes to Allow Beer in Pouches

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:39:49 +0000

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A bill that would allow malt beverages, including beer, to be sold in Connecticut in pliable pouches is moving through the General Assembly.

The House of Representatives voted 120-25 on Wednesday in favor of the legislation. The bill now awaits action in the Senate.

The state’s liquor industry has pushed for the bill. It has argued Connecticut is the only state which bans such packaging for malt-based products and how the same kind of packaging is used for many products such as sauces, juices and laundry detergents.

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, however, has opposed the bill.

DEEP argues that such containers cannot be recycled and the legislation runs counter to the state’s efforts to boost the rate of recycling and reuse in Connecticut.

Lock of Baby’s Hair, First Tooth…Now Breast Milk?

Ryan Trowbridge — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:58:31 +0000

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Strands from baby’s first haircut. The first tooth. Tiny footprints sunk into clay. Some parents even tuck away the dried stump of the umbilical cord or the stick pregnancy test as a touching memento marking the milestones of their kids.

The latest? Breast milk jewelry.

Few issues polarize mothers more than breast-feeding, and all things related to breast-feeding, so wearing processed breast milk around the neck or in a bracelet has ignited some passions.

The jewelry, on sale at the handmade marketplace Etsy, is definitely not for writer Ashley McCann, 34, in Naples, Fla. She nursed both her boys, 6 and 9, and loved it, but she feels some sort of gross-out line has been crossed.

“This is the most hilariously absurd trend in mommy jewelry that I have ever heard about in my life,” she said. “I think it is just flat-out weird, to be honest.”

In addition to finished jewelry, a search on Etsy produces sellers of breast milk soap and one offering a locket kit for the DIY inclined. A couple purveyors, both moms, said in interviews that they hit on the idea as they sought out unusual keepsakes of their special bonds with their babies during nursing.

The two would not reveal their recipes for processing the milk, which is covered with a glaze or clear resin after it is plasticized or dehydrated, forming a clay-like substance that hardens over time when at least one method is used.

Prices range from $15 for the kit, which includes various locket designs, to $125 for a double pendant in copper bezels with a matching vintage chain.

“What a wonderful way to preserve the `liquid gold’ that we are only able to make for a certain period of time,” reads the product description for the latter. “This can be passed down for generations and what a fantastic gift to give to your child, the root of their survival.”

The passing down notion prompted more than a few jokes on BabyCenter.com when the subject first came up innocently enough in January. A poster on the site, which has an average 11 million unique views a month, said she had heard of breast milk jewelry and wondered where she could find some, said Rebecca Michals, who manages the message boards.

“It may not be for everyone,” Michals offers. “I think it’s a matter of opinion.”

Oh yes. Just as attachment parenting (wearing your child, the family bed) is a matter of opinion, or nursing in public, or those breast-feeding baby dolls of the holiday season last year.

“I actually think it’s the attitude behind it,” McCann said as she tried to explain her disdain. Nursing, she said, “is one of my fondest memories, and honestly I would get pregnant again to nurse another baby. But it was the relationship. There’s something about plasticizing breast milk, which is just food to nurse your baby, that almost seems like some sort of weird worship of nursing.”

Tell that to the 20 or so people who contact Allicia Mogavero each day about the breast milk jewelry she began selling in 2007, then mostly to friends. She put her designs on Etsy about a year ago and has sold about 200 pieces, including pendants, bracelets, lockets and beads of breast milk alone for people to do with what they wish. She personalizes the jewelry with names in fancy script.

In all, she offers 36 items, using a five-step process to preserve a small amount of milk shipped to her as instructed. Working the milk takes about four weeks and the resin needs a week or two to dry, she said.

Mogavero, 34, in Wakefield, R.I., said sales have picked up since the jewelry arose on BabyCenter, producing dozens of posts that seem evenly split between admirers and the repulsed.

“A lot of people are repelled by breast-feeding in general, as crazy as that is. And I think anything having to do with it is probably not anything that they like. It is a body fluid, so maybe that’s why people are somewhat against it,” mused Mogavero, who has shipped to the Philippines, England, Australia and Japan.

Mogavero said she has had husbands steal breast milk out of the freezer to surprise their nursing wives with one of her creations. She sells on Etsy as MommyMilk as she continues to nurse her third child, a 16-month-old girl.

Brooke Becker in Summerville, S.C., offers the breast milk kits on Etsy under the user name MilkMomBaby.

“I think initially you tell some people about it and they say, `Oh, that’s gross,”‘ she said. “Breast milk is pretty personal. Just sending that off to someone is a little bit of a leap for people.”

That’s why she decided to sell kits, including discreet lockets and a pill box design as vessels. She said she has sold about 48 kits since October.

“It’s something that moms do for themselves,” said Becker, 33. She has shipped to the United Kingdom and Asia. “It’s more for mothers who are nursing long term, not people who just nurse a couple of months.”

Victoria Cameron, 33, is nursing her 13-month-old son and pursuing a master’s in social work in Minneapolis. She went on Etsy in search of mother’s jewelry when she stumbled on the breast milk sellers. She was the first to post about it on a BabyCenter board for bargain hunters. The quick-fire reaction surprised her.

“At the same time people were talking about getting cremation remains made into a diamond or a rock, and that was, like, super meaningful, and then people were just like, `Oh this breast milk thing is crazy.’ It was very odd,” she said.

The debate has since spread on parenting blogs and social media.

In Belleville, N.J., Sharon Valcarcel, 32, nurses her 11-month-old daughter in the evenings after she returns from her job as a high school psychologist. She heard about the jewelry from a friend and thought it was “kind of gross.”

The jewelry, Valcarcel said, plays into broader divisions over breast-feeding, with women “who are very elitist” about it on the supportive side.

“The funny thing is they’re kind of pretty,” she said of some of the designs. “But I think it’s awkward.”

Cameron hasn’t bought a piece of breast milk jewelry but plans to “as kind of a weaning type of thing, when I think we’re getting towards the end of it.”

So what’s the fuss?

“This has nothing to do with promoting the breast-feeding campaign. This is people on Etsy wanting to make a buck, and emotional moms like me wanting to have something for themselves,” she said. “I’m not going to pass it down to my son. I’m not going to tell the average person on the street what it is. It would be for me.”

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Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie

Circus Elephant Shot During Drive-By in Miss.

Ryan Trowbridge — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:45:29 +0000

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A circus veterinarian says the Asian elephant wounded in a drive-by shooting in Mississippi should be fully recovered within a few weeks.

Meanwhile, a reward for information leading to an arrest has climbed to $21,000.

Dr. Dennis Schmitt, a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus veterinarian, says the 39-year-old Asian elephant named Carol will be taken home to Springfield, Mo., to recuperate.

Schmitt says the bullet hit Carol in the neck just above the shoulder, but it missed any major blood vessels or nerves.

Schmitt says the elephant has been alert and active since the injury.

Police Chief Tony Carleton says a vehicle drove past Tupelo BancorpSouth Arena about 2 a.m. and fired into the area. Police are investigating.

Associated Press