Victim uses Facebook to finger suspect
By Larry Shaughnessy
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/28/facebook.finds.attacker/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Timeliness:
This story happens two weeks ago; it is a recent event.
Currency:
Facebook.com is totally a spotlight of public concern for now. People start discussing that whether they using or depending on Facebook too much. And now, even the police use the Facebook to finger suspect.
A runaway truck caused a fire on Moeser Lane and had knocked out power in El Cerrito and some neighboring cities yesterday
“We dragged him out in a heartbeat while the truck went up in flames. I just wanted to get him out of there.” El Cerrito police Detective Sgt. Shawn Maples said.
A big asphalt truck, a 10-wheel hauler, overturned and smashed against somebody’s house. The truck and the house were smoldering. Sgt. Maples was among the first rescue workers to arrive to the scene. Maples said that he heard cries coming from the burning truck and house, and started digging through the debris. He spotted the drive lodged between the wheels of the truck, which had flipped on its side. Maples said the driver’s legs were mangled and he couldn’t move. Maples was able to grab his hand and, with some help from Police Chief Scott Kirkland and Detective Ken Zinc, he was able to pull the driver to safety.
The crash caused a snapped power pole and five badly damaged vehicles. A Honda sedan hit by the truck was so crumpled that the driver was trapped inside. Rescue workers sliced into it, peeling back the roof to free the trapped driver. On the other hand, a electrician’s truck that had been parked on Moeser was knocked over to the next street, Richmond. Also, a sport utility vehicle that apparently had a man and boy inside ended up stuck in some shrubbery beside the burning house.
Another witness, Ruben Sharma, lives across the street from the single-story home that was destroyed in the fire. He was just about to head back to work around 1:30 when the crash occurred. He said that he first thought it was a major earthquake. His front yard was littered with bricks, broken glass, car parts, splintered wood and palm fronds.
The driver, a San Jose man whose name was not released, broke both of his legs in the crash. He’s listed in serious but stable condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
1) The last time she played soccer, she suffered a serious injury to her knee. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why she wants to keep playing.
2) He knows it isn’t kosher, but green Jell-O is his favorite dessert. This admission prompted his friends to question both his taste and his judgment.
3) He hopes to make a billion dollars by the time he’s forty. Already he figures his net worth is between $2 million to $3 million, depending on current stock prices.
4) Jim said he decided to pull out of the race because of painful shin splits. However, the winner called it a pretext; he said Jim dropped out when he realized he couldn’t win.
5) Ever since she joined the U.S. Navy on June 15, 1998 she has been a vocal proponent of naval practices and politics.
6) Sylvia doted on the puppies and raised them as if they were children. However, she was very permissible and rarely ever reined them in, even when they chewed her shoes.
7) Janet doesn’t usually consider herself quick witted, but when her editor described her paper as pablum, she retorted that although he may be a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer he still exemplifies the Peter Principle.
A twenty-one-year-old man tried to steal a car with a newly married woman still in the passenger seat on Saturday night in San Mateo.
According to Sheryl Wolcott, a San Mateo County deputy district attorney, the newly married couple, whose names were not released, was planning to spend their wedding night at a nearby Embassy Suites. The newlyweds had stopped off for a late night snack at the Taco Bell on East Fourth Avenue in San Mateo for a late-night on their way to the hotel. The bride was still in her wedding dress, and the groom was still in his tuxedo, Wolcott described.
As said by the police, the groom got out of the car, a 2003 Nissan Altima, and left the engine running. His new wife stayed in the car while he headed toward the restaurant. The groom hadn’t even gotten inside the restaurant when Alan Ticas-Soto, a 21-year-old man, ran through the parking lot and leaped in the idling car. However, as the police said, he didn’t get very far. First, he had a hard time getting the car into reverse, and had to fiddle with the gear shift a bit before getting it into gear.
Maybe Ticas-Soto was distracted by the screams of the 22-year-old bride in the passenger seat, and she was frantically trying to unbuckle her seat belt and get away from him. When the groom saw what was happening, he ran back and opened the passenger-side door, and trying to help his wife get out of the car. The bride finally tumbled out, landing on the parking lot. She was unhurt, though shaken. According to the police, Ticas-Soto put the car into a forward gear, then he promptly smashed into a Taco Bell sign. He leaped out of the car and ran away. In the meantime, witnesses called the police.
Patrolling nearby, police officer Brendan Boyle noticed a man matching the suspect’s description. The man was running southbound on Sound Delaware Street at Ninth Avenue. Boyle called it in and patrol cars converged on the scene. They caught Ticas-Soto and arrested him without incident. Police say he told them that he’d been taking methamphetamines for three straight days.
Ticas-Soto is now facing felony carjacking charges and misdemeanor drug charges. He pleaded not guilty in San Mateo Superior Court on Monday. He is being held in San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. Ticas-Soto does not have a criminal record. According to Wolcott, no attorney has yet been assigned to Ticas-Soto’s case by the county private defender program. If he’s found guilty, Ticas-Soto could face up to nin years in state prison for the carjacking.
A preliminary hearing in the case is schedule for May 10, Wolcott said.
Face Set #2: An Alarming Event
The “Big Torch” Brought Twenty Four Firefighters to Celebrate Mabel McCullough’s Ninety-Five Birthday.
“In my 23 years on the job, I’ve seen a lot of thing set off a fire alarm, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one going off because of a birthday cake.” Fire Chief Lonnie Lamb said.
Mabel McCullough will turn 95 on September 27. A birthday party was put on the by First United Methodist Church women’s group for McCullough turning ninety five years old. They had a carrot cake with 95 candles on it for her birthday cake. “There wasn’t an inch to spare. By the time we had them all lit, it looked like a torch.” one of the guests, Eddi Carlin said. With help, McCullough blew them all out and that created a big cloud of smoke. The smoke set off a smoke alarm. As a result, five engines and two ladder companies arrived. The firefighters didn’t stick around to eat birthday cake, but they did have their pictures taken with McCullough.
Failure of Vaccine Test Is Setback in AIDS Fight
By Lawrence K. Altman and Andrew Pollack
Timeliness:
People have concerned on curing AIDS for ages; from the past to now and in the future until we can find a way to fight AIDS.
Impact:
If this test was successful, many patients with AIDS finally would be cured. But, the failure of the vaccine test does not mean that it does not impact anybody. Many doctors and people in the AIDS vaccine area were disappointed on the result on this test, but the test also makes them be clearer how to work on the vaccine and I believe that they will succeed one day.
At least 100 people were forced to leave the South of Market area due to a high-pressure gas pipe has ruptured by a private construction crew.
According to a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. person, a private construction crew was trying to repair sewer lines and they severed a two-inch underground gas pipe with a backhoe at around 12:30 p.m. yesterday. The police have cordoned off all the surrounding streets, effectively shut down a four-block area. Traffic at both Folsom and 11th Streets was really snarled, and people were standing around at the edges of the area. At least 100 people were forced to leave the area, including neighborhood residents, dozens of business owners and their customers.
Carlann Lauria, manager of a self-storage company on Folsom near 10th Street called Crocker’s Lockers, said that the employees kept busy on going outside the police perimeter to collect payment checks from their customers, who were irate. On the other side, Samantha Feldman, a manager of Wa-Ha-Ka restaurant which is at the corner where the construction crew had been working, said that her employees and patrons were forced to leave and the restaurant lost about $500 worth of business in the shutdown.
According PG&E, the gas was turned back on at 5:09 p.m. yesterday.
1) To insure the accuracy of the news story, Sarah Jones checked with her source. For Jones, this is an everyday practice, not the exception.
2) As the two boys argued over who should get the last piece of pizza, both seemed equally as hungry. Clearly, they had forgotten their earlier decision to forgo having seconds.
3) He suspected his neighbor was selling drugs, so he called the FBI. His neighbor, however, cried foul at the accusation.
4) She grew up on the Great Plains, near Alliance, NE, where the winters are long and harsh and the living is hand to mouth.
5) Her car was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver on route 1A this morning. She wasn’t really injured, but the impact sent the contents of her purse helter-skelter.
Wildfire Burns in San Bernardino Forest
by The Associated Press
Saturday, September 15, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/15/AR2007091501277.html
Impact: The fire has burned some 4,000 acres, moved northeast toward Fawnskin, which is about 85 miles east of Los Angles. Evacuation center was set up, and Voluntary evacuations were called. Fire officials evacuated several campgrounds, and some roadways in the area were closed to traffic. About 600 firefighters were aided by water drops. Many people and places have involved in this news story, although there is an unclear number of people are affected.
Timeliness: The fire was reported Friday afternoon, which means yesterday. It is a recent and continuous event.
A couple of Taipei tourists were robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of Saint Mart’s Cathedral yesterday.
According to Sgt. Lawrence Price of the San Francisco Police Department reported, the victims, WeiMing Chen, 28, and his wife, Li Lu, 30, left the group at about 10AM yesterday and walked to the cathedral’s lower parking lot, where they were taking pictures. A man, who was wearing a black jacket and cap, with an assailant as being about 18 years old approached them and waved a pistol around. Then he demanded their money. Chen handed over about $100, his Visa card, their passports, and camera and airline tickets to the thief. The suspect took off running and the police are looking for him.
Nobody knows if the couple was able to make their 1PM flight back to Taipei. The whole tour group, about 30 employees of a Taiwan airline, were scheduled to leave then.
