oddball, weird, assorted: April 2008 Archives

We're still in the process of moving to a new server, so posts are slow appearing.

As we move forward, I plan on revamping parts of the site including the links. So,

If you have a site you think Crime Scene should link to, post it up in the comments below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Frank

Last night I attended a meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).
The group put together a distinguished panel of experts to discuss the new media, blogging and ethics.

On the panel were:
Attorney Terry Francke, of CalAware.
Writer Mickey Kaus, Kausfiles at Slate.com
Attorney Jack Lerner, a USC expert in intellectual property and technology law
Kevin Roderick, Pulitzer Prize winner and publisher of LA Observed.
**Roderick modestly points out he was editor on two undertakings that won the LA Times news staff Pulitzer Prizes.

There was heavyweight discussion on several issues. Francke suggested Thomas Jefferson would have been a top blogger, if blogs were around back in the 18th and 19th Centruies.
Kaus suggested SPJ's ethics rules don't necessarily apply in the digital age.
Lerner discussed recent case law, including the Apple vs Bloggers case.
Roderick talked about his blog, and how it got off the ground as a conservative political destination of choice when he leaked an LA Times editor's memo on abortion.
Joel Bellman, former Her-Ex opinion page editor, who is now Zev Yaroslavsky's press deputy, MC'd the deal. I like him because he's admitted anonymous source and level-headed moderator, especially when the conspiracy kooks come out. (And they did)
***Bellman points out I promoted him above his pay grade at the Examiner.

"You inadvertently promoted me at the Her-Ex. I was an editorial writer and rotating op-ed columnist - I was NOT the opinion-age editor (that distinction belonged to Gary Spiecker, an excellent fellow and longstanding assistant editor of the LA Times Sunday Opinion section.)"

My big question of the night for the panel was what's your home page? and what web sites do you regularly visit.

Got some interesting responses:
The Arts and Letter Blog is apparently well respected.
The Drudgereport got some notice, especially from Kaus who cited its more even-handed approach in recent years.
NYTimes.com also received kudos, especially from Bellman, who said it's the best newspaper site out there.
"Loads fast," he said.

Roderick also noted the healthy blog exchange taking place in the San Gabriel Valley. Noting that there are several "political blogs" and anonymous blogs getting a lot of attention.
* Looking at my notebook There were a couple of links I forgot.
* Kaus mentioned he was a fan of lukeford.net An LA area blog.
* Roderick mentioned the FOX 11 LA blogs, noting they are "mostly insipid."
* He praised others like John Schwada's.
****I should really work harder to check this stuff out before I post!
****From Bellman for Roderick:

...the site I meant to reference last night was not Arts & Letters Daily but Arts Journal, another very high quality site with many smart and interesting voices. The arts blogger whose name I couldn't remember is Tyler Green., whose site is Modern Art Notes.

http://www.artsjournal.com/
http://www.artsjournal.com/man/

A block surrounding the intersection of Arden and Valley in El Monte has been evacuated because of a bomb scare. Det. Ralph Batres says officials will detonate the TNT at the location.

Over at LA Observed, Kevin Rodrick's readers have been lamenting the matzoh shortage that hit area markets in time for Passover.

I always look for Kosher Coke at this time of year because it's made with real sugar instead of corn syrup, which means it tastes better and probably better for you too. It's easy to find because of the yellow cap (regular Coke has a white cap).

That said I haven't seen any of the Kosher Coke this year. Shortage?

First of all, the print version of Tuesday's column again contains a mistake about the debuts of the Model Ts and Model As.

Wikipedia says this about the whole controversy.

I'm sure that when Bill Ruh wrote me he meant to say that Ford didn't produce the Model A until late 1927. (Of course as a caller just pointed out he might have meant that Ford produced the Model T until late 1927.)

When I cut and pasted his email into my column I didn't read it closely enough to make that distinction. But several readers have seen the error, so I've fixed it in the blog and will fix the online version as well.

Here's the link to the "Ruins of Detroit" website.

Last week in this spot I wrote about some wonderful historical pictures.

Many of the shots can be found on the Web either through the Los Angeles Public Library, UCLA or at fototeka.com, an art site devoted to ancient LAPD crime scene photos.

There's a reason I'm writing about these photos again this week: I made a mistake describing my favorite one of the bunch.

The picture in question, shot in 1921, depicts a funeral procession for a 106-year-old man. Santo Juncio's casket is being escorted just beyond the walls of an unrestored San Gabriel Mission.

A group of cars is parked alongside a dirt path next to the mission. I described the cars as Model A's.

They were, in fact, Model T's.

Almost 100 years later, that doesn't seem like a huge distinction. But to several of you who called, wrote and e-mailed me it was a glaring error.

Here's an example, written by Bill Ruh of Montclair:

"The Ford Model A was not around in 1921. Ford did(n't) produce the Model A until late 1927. The cars had to be the Ford Model T. The Model T speaks even more volumes about the photo - the first mass-production motor car along the final road of a man who was born when all humans relied on horses."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks, Bill.

A couple others were less complimentary. And, quite honestly, I should know better.

In case you didn't know, or if I haven't  said so before, I was born in Detroit and have lived most of my life on the Los Angeles freeway system.

By default, the American automotive industry is in my blood, and I should know the entire history of Henry Ford, assembly lines and how the Model T's DNA runs through the cars we drive today.

So, excuse the mistake. By the way, there's a great Detroit photo Web site called "Ruins of Detroit." Take a look; you'll be glad you live here.

Since we are on the subject of these wonderful archives, I can take the time to point out a few other Los Angeles-area photos that are quite interesting.

This past week has been filled with talk about the possibility of billionaire developer Ed Roski Jr. bringing professional football back to Los Angeles by building a stadium in Industry.

A search of "pro football" in the public library archive went as far back as 1927.

None of them mention Industry, but there is a great 1944 photo of a guy named Roy

"Bullet" Baker, a USC left halfback who racked up 107 yards in the 1923 Rose Bowl - the first played in the "new" stadium.

Roski's proposed stadium will be built where the 57 and the 60 freeways come together. A search of the library archive for "Pomona Freeway" revealed a 1969 shot titled "Pomona Freeway Mudslide."

Here's the caption:

"Mudslide covering all eastbound and two of the westbound lanes of the Pomona Freeway, 2 1/2 miles east of Pico Rivera."

What's fascinating about the shot is that there is a car atop the massive pile of mud. The car has obviously been pushed from the fast lane into oncoming traffic.

I tried hard to figure out the make and model of the car, but no such luck.

One thing for certain: it's not a Model T.

This from KQED's Capitol Notes:

A NEW TAXXX: Today was lobbying day for the adult entertainment industry, one of the more unusual annual rituals at a statehouse was unusual is the norm. The fully clothed ensemble that made their way to Sacramento had a particular gripe this time around: pending legislation to impose a new (and extra) 8% tax on adult DVD stores, theaters, and nightclubs. The money collected by the tax in Assemblymember Charles Calderon’s bill, AB 2914, would create a new fund to supposedly mitigate the impact of such businesses on local communities.

Let’s just answer that burning question now, shall we? Yes, adult film stars were in attendance. And no, I shouldn’t have Googled them in advance when I didn’t recognize the names listed on the press advisory (seriously, KQED, I was doing research).

Brian Day is set to report the existence of a serial robber who is targetign area beauty stores. THe robber has apparently hit five beauty supply locations in recent weeks.

The latest victim .com Beauty Supply in Walnut.

Aslo targeted were stores in Alhambra and Monterey Park. Link to the story when it comes in.

This from AP (Associated Press -- sorry Aaron Proctor)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A smackdown among presidential candidates?

Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain will appear on World Wrestling Entertainment's live "Monday Night Raw" (8-11 p.m. EST on cable's USA network) but instead of smacking each other down, they separately will deliver some wrestling-themed stumping in taped messages before Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.

"Tonight, in honor of the WWE, you can call me Hillrod," Clinton says in her message. "This election is starting to feel a lot like `King of the Ring.' The only difference? The last man standing may just be a woman."

Obama borrows The Rock's famous catchphrase during his appearance.

"To the special interests who've been setting the agenda in Washington for too long and to all the forces of division and distraction that has stopped us from making progress, for the American people, I've got one question: Do you smell what Barack is cooking?" Obama says before flashing a smile.

McCain, meanwhile, looked to Hulkamania for inspiration for his message.

"Looks like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama want to celebrate their differences in the ring," McCain says. "Well, that's fine with me, but let me tell you: If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. Come November, it'll be game over. And whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you?"

The candidate appearances will be used to promote "Smackdown Your Vote!" — the WWE's voter registration drive.

On the Net:

• World Wrestling Entertainment: http://www.wwe.com
• Smackdown Your Vote!: http://smackdownyourvote.com

 

This from AP (Aaron Proctor -- sorry Associated Press):

Ruby Gonzales at the Whittier Daily News talked to cops who said there's a growing trend of car theives targeting the removable 3rd seat in Chevy SUVs.

So add that third seat to a growing list of coveted items that includes tools, copper, catalytic converters, cell phones and iPODs.,

Here's a piece of Ruby's story:

The seats, which are removable and carry no serial numbers, end up being sold for as much as $2,000 in a thriving black market.

Thefts of such seats, especially from Tahoes, are happening in other communities, too.

The sheriff's Norwalk Station, which covers Norwalk, La Mirada and the unincorporated county areas of East Whittier and South Whittier, had 50 such thefts last year and 17 so far this year, according to Sgt. Steve Mills.

About 35 of the 50 cases last year involved Tahoes. And of the 17 SUVs that had third-row seats stolen to date this year, Mills said eight were Tahoes.

The latest theft happened April 7.

"They pop right out. They get in the vehicle real quick and remove them real quick," Mills said. "They favor the Tahoe. I don't know (why)."

So, I searched for 3rd Rows on Ebay and here's what I found.

Detectives Thursday continued their investigation into a 90-year-old woman suspected of beating a tiny dog to death.

Here's an excerpt from Sandra Molina's story:

This is the worst case of animal cruelty I've seen," said Southeast Area Animal Control Authority Officer Jaime Preciado, who responded to the call of animal cruelty Monday in the 12000 block of Bayla Street. "I was nauseous."

Authorities are seeking felony animal cruelty charges against Beatrice Castillo.

"We will be asking the District Attorney's Office to file charges," said Capt. Aaron Reyes, of SEAACA.

Although a felony charge can mean up to a year of incarceration in county jail and/or a $225,000 fine, officials are not looking to punish Castillo.

"Our goal is not to incarcerate her but to evaluate her mental health and make sure she gets the proper care she needs," Reyes said.

The 10-year-old dog suffered severe trauma to its jaw, teeth and hind leg, said Brad Brunskill, SEAACA veterinarian.

Keith Durflinger had complete access to evidence and the investigation. One of his photos on the jump. Do not look if you are squemish.

 

State parole agents arrested a pair accused of stealing a purse from the parents of Moe the chimp. Here's the story from reporter Brian Day:

CLAREMONT - A man and woman suspected of stealing a purse from the owners of Moe the chimpanzee late last month in West Covina were arrested Thursday, officials said.

Baldwin Park residents Karen Jean Cervantes, 46, and Michael Dean Huffman, 44, were arrested shortly after 8 p.m. when state parole agents stopped Huffman's truck in Claremont, said West Covina police Corporal Rudy Lopez. Huffman, a parolee, immediately led police to Cervantes, he said.

The pair has been booked on suspicion of several felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the theft of a purse from La Donna and St. James Davis' shopping cart at a Target store in the Eastland Shopping Center on March 30, Lopez said.

This comes from the Associated Press:

Thomas Riccio, the memorabilia dealer who arranged O.J. Simpson’s ill-fated meeting in a Las Vegas hotel room, says in a book released Monday that the former football star’s entourage carried at least one gun, even though Simpson tried afterward to tell him otherwise.

“He was trying to convince me a gun wasn’t involved, but that was ridiculous,” Riccio says in the book “Busted,” which he and his publisher, Phoenix Books, tout as an inside account of events leading to Simpson’s arrest in the botched Sept. 13 heist.

“I was standing right next to the guy with the gun,” Riccio says. “Some reports claim there may have been a second gunman in the room, but I only witnessed one.”

Riccio acknowledged the 212-page book breaks little new ground.

“Maybe there’s nothing really surprising in it,” Riccio told The Associated Press by telephone from New York, where he planned a news conference and television appearances.

“But as far as the O.J. thing, it’s amazing how many people don’t know quite what
happened,” he said.

Gotta love our state legislature. We're in a recession. People are losing their jobs, gasoline prices are through the roof, and they want to raise taxes. It's the kind of regressive tax that really hurts the poor. Way to go Cali. Here's something on its way from the SJ Merc:

Here's the Lucky cap that started it all:

This comes from Dan Abendschein in the form of an IM. Apparently I'm not the first person to use the Top Ramen index as an economic indicator, I've just been using Top Ramen as a forecast longer and I actually think the Mama Noodles Index referred to below is a myth. I can find no direct links to it on the web and only five or six blog entries that talk about it ...none has a link.

Anyway, here's what Dan (and wikipedia) have to say.

As pundits and brainiacs around the country constantly attempt to determine if we are in a recession, I’ve been looking at my own economic indicator.

I call it the Top Ramen index.

Here’s how it works: When the price of Top Ramen rises, we’re in an economic crisis. When it falls, good times.

I guess I could gauge my economic barometer on other commodities like soybeans, pork bellies, uranium or light sweet crude, but I don’t buy any of that at Staters, Ralph’s, Albertsons or Vons. I’ll bet you don’t either.

The words “light, sweet crude” in the same sentence sound more like a review of a show on Fox than something you can actually buy anyway.

Top Ramen is a commodity, and you can live on it. I know. I did it in college.

Back in the late 1970s and early ‘80s you could buy something like 20 packages of the stuff for a buck. Think about it, that’s breakfast, lunch and dinner for six days.

Other options included Ralph’s Blue Label macaroni and cheese for a dime a box or a $1 jar of Pizza Quick and a $1 loaf of Wonder.

Throw in a case of Lucky Lager at $3.99 and a couple packs of smokes at a buck-and-a-half, a guy could live large for a week with less than 20 bucks.

Lucky Beer had the added bonus of puzzle caps, so who needed the Internet for entertainment?

The inside of the caps had little rebus puzzles that were easy to figure out at first but got harder and harder to solve the deeper you dug into the box.

Midway through a case, you could spend all night figuring out what the combination of the word RUSH, a picture of a hen, a picture of a dress and a picture of a sink meant. Russian dressing! Get it?

It’s been nearly 30 years since I lived so frugally, but I have always paid attention to the price of Top Ramen, boxed macaroni, cigarettes and beer.

Early last year, I popped into a Stater Bros. market and paid $1 for 10 Top Ramens, which meant my dollar bought half the noodles it bought almost 30 years ago. Can’t remember what mac and cheese cost that day, but it was certainly more than a dime a box.

Wednesday morning I stopped into Ralph’s on my way to work and saw that my favorite packaged noodle soup was selling for a quarter a package or five for a $1. That’s quite a price hike in a matter of months. Boxes of mac and cheese were selling for something like $1.25 each.

My conclusion?

Prices are on a rapid upswing. Our dollars don’t stretch as far as they did last year — or even last week.
Those old beer caps probably have an answer. I remember this one: a key followed by the letter P, an oar, a chin and an arrow pointing up, as in “keep your chin up.”

Yeah right.

West Covina police said Tuesday they've identified a 46-year-old woman and 44-year-old man wanted in connection with a purse snatching that targeted St. James and LaDonna Davis, parents of Moe of the Chimp.

Police officials declined to release the names of the two suspects, indicating they are still at large. The man is apparently on parole, according to West Covina police Lt. Ron Mitchell.

The wanted pair, both of Baldwin Park, may be responsible for additional crimes throughout the area, Mitchell said.
West Covina police have sorted through several leads in the case since a press conference at attorney Gloria Allred’s office last week, authorities said.

Really bizarre story out of City Terrace this morning. Taxi driver picks up two women rides them out to the Ramona Gardens project. Somehow they end up stabbing the cabbie. He wrecks. There's two dead and one injured.

LAist sums up the tale here.

Well, most of the SGV area anyway. For some reason Valinda has not been mapped. Don't know why just yet.

In the meantime, here's a scene from a drive on the 605. Enjoy.

News worthy? It depends on one's perception of the story, I guess. Yet, with the TMZ loaded, UTube star studded events that choke the news daily-- including your own -- when the Lindsey, Spears, Hilton ... stories based more on voyeurism than humanity command the light; where clips of Hiltons Chihuahua, Brittany's (privates), and Lindsey's lesbian affair are aired on the major networks and we are like...WOW'D--
 
Yes, I believe the Davis story absolutely shines.
 
Why? I mean, who cares? Everyday cowardly punks prey on the less fortunate. What makes the Davis story so news worthy? Simply this...at the end of the day theirs is less a story of tragedy than it is one of triumph. Against all odds they have survived. Lacking glamour, their story is a testament to the strength and power of the human spirit.
 
Their story is as much a "purse" story as Titanic is a "boat" story.

Article in Around the Region in today's (April 1) edition of  the
Trib states
"The former owners of Moe the chimp . . ."   WHERE IS  MOE?  IF THE
DAVISES DON'T OWN HIM NOW, WHO DOES???

I have wondered what's happened to him for quite a while now, and I'm
sure I'm not the only person who has wondered that.

Thanks for any information you can email me.  

Mr. and Mrs. Davis have been through so much. It is heartbreaking to see them suffer from yet another senseless act.

Gloria Allred seems like a nice lady She was genuinely concerned about her clients St. James and La Donna Davis. She even wiped St. James' face as he wept about being unable to stop a woman from stealing his wife's purse while the couple shopped at a Target store in West Covina last Sunday.

Allred characterized St. James as a hero. After all she noted St. James risked his life to save LaDonna when the couple were attacked by crazed chimps in March 2005.

The attack occurred at a home for wildlife in Caliente, Calif. It was the place they sent Moe when the city of West Covina insisted that Moe couldn't live at the Davis' home anymore.

Wednesday Allred called a press conference. I think to help the Davises get a little publicity for their case. She shared a photo of the suspected purse snatcher and offered to take calls from anyone who had information about the woman in the surveillance photo.

Allred also propped up a copy of a book about Moe, I think 

it was the official biography. I've seen a copy floating around the office. In return, St. James pitched Allred's book, "Fight Back and Win."

Some of the more callous members of the media were moved by St. James and LaDonna. One cameraman even shook St. James' hand and said, "You are a true hero."

You can't help but be impressed by Allred. She knows how to handle the media. She speaks well and seems sincere. Her office commands the 15th floor of a mid-Wilshire high-rise and the conference room has a sweeping vista of the Hollywood Hills.

The people who work for her all all pretty nice too. Not like the usual secretaries, paralegals and hacks one typically might find in an attorney's office.

The pictures here are both pre-press conference. Allred talks fast, which makes for good TV, but difficult to take accurate notes - fortunately she (not an assistant) passed out a copy of a statement  That's a long winded excuse for not snapping a pic of Allred. (maybe next time).

What a week.

Violence erupted on our freeways. Crooks took pot shots at police officers and the cops shot back. Someone executed an Arcadia man inside his parents' home. The Department of Coroner attempted to sort out the details surrounding the strange death of a Pico Rivera man found dead in a Ford sedan the morning after his wedding.

Two kindly grandfathers working as car salesmen in East Los Angeles were herded into a back room and blasted. Twenty minutes later, and a block or so away, two other guys were killed in a drive-by.

Oh, and the parents of Moe the chimp encountered a purse snatcher Sunday at a Target store in West Covina.

On Wednesday afternoon, St. James and LaDonna Davis held a press conference at attorney Gloria Allred's office in a Wilshire Boulevard highrise overlooking the Hollywood Hills to discuss the incident.

"How could she do this to me?" St. James said. "I keep asking myself 'why, why, why do I have such bad luck?'"

This is news.

As proof, TMZ.com was streaming live and KTLA, KABC, KCBS, KCAL and KTTV all sent their heaviest hitters.

There's a huge file of stories about Moe the chimp in the newspaper's morgue dating back a decade or so. Most have pictures. The saddest shows St. James Davis wailing as his "son" is carted away from the family's West Covina home in September 1999.

The most recent mention comes from 2005. Chimps attacked and mauled St. James on the grounds of Moe's new home, the Animal Haven Ranch in Caliente.

As a result of the attack and 60 surgeries, St. James' face is disfigured and he is confined to a wheelchair. He could only sit and watch Sunday as LaDonna's purse was taken from their shopping cart. On Wednesday, 15 of my colleagues were there to chronicle this latest twist of the Davises.

After all, who doesn't like monkeys or stories about monkeys? (Yes I know Moe's a chimp — but in a generic sense he's a monkey.)

Monkeys are funny. It's in their genes. Every time I think about the chain-smoking Mr. Teeny, Krusty the Clown's sidekick on "The Simpsons," I smile. I put Ronald Reagan right up there in the pantheon of presidents, but who can remember a single movie of his other than "Bedtime for Bonzo"?

I must admit, I stifled a grin when I saw how much attention the Davises' case got.

In that context, who can blame Allred for using the chimp to make chumps of the local media?

"They are on a fixed income and are still coping with the life-changing consequence of the attack by the chimps," Allred said. "LaDonna spends her days caring for St. James, feeding him, bathing him, helping him in and out of his wheelchair and taking him to doctors."

For most of us, a purse snatching winds up with the police taking a report, and the bank and credit card companies taking their sweet time to return your lost plastic.

Don't forget the line at the DMV taking a century or so to navigate just to get a paper license and a new picture.

I know. My wife, Rosie, and I lived this once. When our son Matthew was born at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, he had to spend the first week of his life in the neonatal ward in an induced coma.

It's one of those secure and supposedly clean wards of the hospital. Everyone has to scrub down. Purses and other personal items need to be left on a table away from the sick babies.

One Sunday when we were visiting the little guy, someone walked off with Rosie's purse. I think we called in a report to the police.

Eventually the wallet came back, with a note that said, "sorry." But the plastic and the money was gone. I guess someone needed it more than we did.

And that was that.

Maybe we would have scored it all back if Matt had been born a monkey.

The Moe the Chimp saga willcontinue today as his "parents" hold a press conference with super lawyer Gloria Allred to discuss La Donna Davis' purse snatching from Target in West Covina.. Here's surveillance video from the store with commentary by Tim Berger,head of the SGVN photo department and a blogger in his own right over at Candids.

Listening to the scanner in the office, Brian Day heard Baldwin Park police officers busting a couple of guys with BB guns just off the 10 freeway near where seven cars had their windows shot out Monday. Story here.

The Century (105) Freeway saw this weeks crime theme merge in a weird way, when an off-duty sheriff's deputy was confronted by a road raging, knife-wielding maniac. The incident culminated in a use of deadly force.

Jen McLain, whose blog Leftovers from City Hall is soaring ever higher every day, took time from government work to cover a unique criminal case that included theft, fire and death. Always resourceful, Jen even found time to snap a picture. Here's the story.

Finally, St. James and LaDonna Davis, parents of Moe the Chimp, will hold a press conference with Gloria Allred tomorrow at Allred's Wilshire Blvd. office. The couple are ticked off that La Donna's purse was snatched at a Target store in West Covina.

The Department of Coroner is apparently backing off earlier statements about the mysterious death of Ernesto Fraye. On Monday Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said that an investigator from his office believed Fraye died as the result of a suicide.

The investigator visited the scene in Pico Rivera where Frayre was shot to death and made the determination in his narrative of the case, Corral said Monday.

Sheriff's detectives viewing the same scene called Fraye's demise "a criminal death."

Frayre, 24, was found in his car on Sideview Drive, just North of Shade Lane and Rivera Park about 10 a.m. Sunday.

On Tuesday, the department of coroner decided to withhold judgment in the case and are beginning to question the theory of suicide, Chief Coroner's investigator Craig Harvey told City News Service.

Among Harvey's revelations to CNS, no gun was found at the scene.

On Sunday morning, Frayre's body was found sitting in the driver's seat of a Ford sedan. He appeared to have been shot in the head, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said, however it was not clear how many times he had been shot. At the time of the discovery, officials did not say if a gun was recovered at the scene.

A witness who spoke to reporter Brian Day, but declined to give his name for fear of retaliation, said he heard gunshots in the area shortly after 3:30 a.m. About three hours later, the witness said he walked down the street and saw the car with Fraye inside but didn't realize he was dead and thought nothing of it.

Fraye had been married Saturday night, friends and family members said.

Tuesday afternoon a makeshift memorial had been placed near where Fraye had died. At left is a photo of Fraye and the memorial.

While we wait for an update in the purse snatching case of Moe's parents La Donna and St. James Davis, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones...

This is a pretty humorous April Fool's joke from Google. They have apparently rolled out a new feature that allows folks to manipulate the time stamp on mail sent to others by using a flux capacitor.

Take a look.

Here's a "testimonial":

"I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again. Everyone sort of knows I used Custom Time on this one, but I'm denying it."

Robby S., Paralegal