| Easton fire captain pleads guilty to child rape
Hours after pleading guilty Monday to raping a 12-year-old boy more than a decade ago, John R. “Skip" Howard notified the town of his intention to retire from the Fire Department. It marked the end of a 34-year career, and a sharp fall from grace for the lifelong Easton resident and Fire Department captain whose family has been prominent in the community almost since its founding. “He's coming off the payroll today," said Town Administrator David A. Colton. “I'm going to accept his retirement letter as tantamount to a resignation." Howard, 53, of 682 Washington St., South Easton, pleaded guilty Monday morning to four charges of child rape, just as jury selection was beginning for his trial in Taunton Superior Court. With his lawyer, Collin W.
Hurricane-force winds whipping through state causes heartaches ...
Winds clocking up to 61 mph on Tuesday claimed the lives of two people and left 40,000 Entergy Corp. customers in the dark overnight across Arkansas.The deaths were reported in Lonoke County and Clinton."Yesterday's gusts were almost as strong as a Category 1 hurricane," John Lowe, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service, said on Wednesday, Jan. 30.The windstorm also belted Little Rock Air Force Base.Tech Sgt. Katherine Garcia told the Jacksonville Patriot that the base had received damages. .
Big issue is runaway spending by our politicians
Pension funding for firefighters is an important issue for taxpayers and first responders alike. Over the last seven years, the federal government has slashed billions of dollars in aid to cities all across the United States. Just like heads of households, elected officials in our municipalities have been forced to decide between funding such essential services as street repairs, police protection and fire safety. Part of the essential services funded by our cities is the pensions of firefighters. Your editorial of Feb. 14 neglects to report that firefighters are mandated by state statutes to contribute nearly 10 percent of their salaries toward their retirement. Moreover, virtually all firefighters are also prohibited from participating in Social Security.
Tara's Sister 'Grateful' for Tough Sentence
Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Diane Druzinski called the case "mind-numbing to the court" and said she was satisfied with the upward deviation of the sentencing guidelines due to Grant's "demonic, manipulative, barbaric and dishonest actions." Smith asked the judge to exceed the minimum guidelines for a number of reasons, including the psychological injury to the children and Tara Grant's family. "These two children have lost both their parents in a horrific way," Smith said. He also asked that recent revelations that the children witnessed Tara Grant's murder also should be considered to exceed the guidelines. Stephen Grant's jail misconduct, including three major violations of rules, also was part of Smith's argument. "Stephen Grant is evil personified.
POWER WAGON: Volvo's new XC70 is an elegant 'crossover' built for ...
I can't wait for global warming to arrive and heat things up. Make Michigan an oven mitt instead of a frozen one. This current cold spell makes me want to use the remote start before I take a hot shower, rev the engine at traffic lights and drive with the heater on full blast with the windows down. I want a Sasquatch-sized carbon footprint -- something at least half the size of Al Gore's. I've stopped fighting environmentalists; now, I want to prove the doomsayers right. I've seen the emission smoke signals and want their hyperbolic science to make more than just award-winning cinema and catchy bumper sticker slogans. But until the day after tomorrow arrives, we still have the 2008 XC70, Volvo's optimistic view that much of Earth will remain frozen and cold.
Bad weather - we have to get used to it
A bank-bursting wave engulfed the car, driving it through the crash barrier. He was able to scramble through the smashed passenger-door window and back up the seawall to the road.Just before midnight, while he was being treated at the scene for hypothermia, shock and bruises, the low pressure crashed into Argyll and Bute, unleashing gale-force winds and storms, before hurtling north-east along the Inner Hebrides to Sutherland and Cape Wrath.At its lowest point, it had sunk to just 965 millibars: as one Met Office forecaster said, quite an impressive depth.It sent gusts of up to 80mph and heavy rain into central, western and southern Scotland overnight.Ferry services between Northern Ireland and Scotland were suspended and, when they restarted yesterday morning, were delayed by up to half an hour.In Glasgow, where the gusts of wind hit peaks of 83mph, one of the city's best-known landmarks, the Great Eastern Hotel, was partially destroyed.
A few structural adjustments have given the Hunsberger family a ...
Beth and Peter Hunsberger needed a house with a level playing field. They loved their house in Hein Park. But their family dynamics had changed in the 10 years they had lived there. Their first daughter, Julia, was born in 1998, and then Victoria (Tori) arrived in 2003. Ten months later, Tori was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The three-story home became an obstacle course for their family. They tried to work with the existing structure, but it was no use. Then they were going to build in the neighborhood, but that didn't work out. .
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