December 2010 Archives

A California woman faces charges of stealing $2.1 million from one of Visalia, California's largest churches, Visalia First Assembly of God, where she worked from 1996 to 2009.

Sandra Arreola,51, of Visalia, is now being held on $1 million bail at the Bob Wiley Detention Center, according to the Fresno Bee.

Arreola turned herself in on Thursday following a two-year audit by the church, and pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of embezzlement and money laundering, according to The Washington Post.

Visalia police say that Arreola took from the church's tithes and offerings, according to an article by Visalia Times-Delta.

A child pornography ring has been broken up after F.B.I. wrapped up a two year investigation into the ring, according to a CNN article.

Authorities investigated an Internet bulletin board called "Lost Boy," shutting it down in early 2009, which lead to 16 of the site's 35 members to plead guilty in the U.S.

Arrests have also been made in South America, Europe and New Zealand, the New York Times reported.

The announcement was made after 44-year-old David Michael Fagerness from Georgia plead guilty on Monday to conspiracy to transport child pornography, according to the CNN article.

Fagerness now faces a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence and others face a 20-year minimum sentence, according to the article.

Four more defendants are named in an indictment but remain in Belgium, New Zealand, Germany and France, and some of the 35 members remain unidentified, according to the CNN article and the New York Times article.

The New York Times also reported that more than 200 victims of molestation have been identified.

A 15-year-old San Francisco girl was returned to her family early last Sunday after a month with her uncle, CNN reported.

Jean Marie Berlinghoff was found with 44-year-old Charles David Berlinghoff in San Fransisco.

A felony arrest warrant for Charles Berlinghoff for child stealing was put out soon after the teen went missing, according to CNN.

Jean was last seen at her father's house on Nov. 10, with her uncle who was visiting from Los Angeles, according to an article by CBS News.

Charles and Jean spent much of their time on the run at homeless shelters and soup kitchens, according to Jean's father Jake Berlinghoff.

Charles Berlinghoff was arrested Saturday after a relative spotted him with his niece. and he is being held on $1 million bail, according to CBS News.

The girlfriend of a convicted murderer was sentenced Wednesday to almost two years in prison for jury tampering, according to an article by the Star Tribune.

Lashaumbay Chanel Hester, 23, of Richfield, must serve at least 14 months in prison followed by 7 months of probation if she has a good prison record, the Star Tribune reported.

Hester spoke with boyfriend Jerrell Brown over the phone while he was in jail about having tracked down two jurers of his murder trial, according to a complaint.

Brown, was convicted of first-degree murder after fatally shooting a 19-year-old man in the head outside of a Minneapolis strip club in 2008.

Hester called a juror in March and was told not to call again. The juror told a courtroom deputy about the calls, according to the article.

Hester pleaded guilty to being an accomplice after the fact, which is a felony, according to the Star Tribune.

"Your actions deserve a punitive sentence," Hennepin County District Judge Robert Small told Hester after sentencing her to prison rather than probation.

45-year old Barry Ardolf of Blaine will face up to 44 years in prison after six charges relating to online harassment that included sending e-mails with child pornography, accusing a Minneapolis lawyer of sexual harassment and threatening to kill the vice president and governor, according to an article by the Pioneer Press.

The harassment began after a couple, Matthew and Bethany Kostolnik, moved in next door to him on August 2, 2008 and ended up calling the police after a "creepy encounter," according to the Star Tribune.

Ardolf used one of 16 of his home computers to hack into the Kostolnik's wireless router, creating a fake e-mail in Matthew Kostolnik's name to harass others and to ultimately get him into trouble, according to the Pioneer Press.

The e-mails were eventually traced back to Ardolf.

Ardolf rejected a plea bargain in June that would have sentenced him to only two years in jail, according to both articles.

"It was terrible what we went through," Matthew Kostolnik told the Star Tribune. "I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through what we did.

Richard Nixon bashed Jews, blacks, Italians and Irish in a collection of recorded audio tapes that were released Thursday by the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, according to an article by the Washington Post.

"The Jews have certain traits. The Irish have certain - for example, the Irish can't drink...they get mean. Virtually every Irish I've known gets mean when he drinks. It's sort of a natural trait. Particularly the real Irish," Nixon said in February of 1973, among 265 more hours of tapes.

The conversations were with an array of his top aides, and also his personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, according to the Washington Post.

Nixon told Woods that blacks might become valued members of society "if you're talking in terms of 500 years," the Irish Times reported.

The Irish Times points out that the newly released tapes provide further evidence of Nixon's anti-Semitism, more evidence than tapes that had already been released in 1999.

"The Jews are just a very aggressive and abrasive and obnoxious personality," he said in one of the newly released tapes. "Most of our Jewish friends...they are all basically people who have a sense of inferiority and have got to compensate."

An Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning re-enacted the 2005 death of her husband in an interview shown Friday, confessing that she had helped a man kill him, according to a recent article by MSNBC.

Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani, 43, was never formally put on trial, according to her lawyer, who said that she was tortured into confessing to the murder.

The re-enactment was part of a half-hour news program about the case, MSNBC reported. The program included interviews with her son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, and her lawyer Houtan Kian, who have both since been arrested.

Despite recent speculation that Ashtiani has been freed, Tabriz judiciary official Mousa Khalil-Elahi maintains that she remains in prison and is in good health, according to MSNBC.

It is still a question whether or not Ashtiani's death sentence will be carried out.

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy has recently expressed doubts about the re-enactment, saying that there are "good reasons to doubt the identity of the person presented as Sakineh," especially when it comes to linguistics and her accent, according to an article by the Sydney Morning Herald.

A women's golf coach at the University of Minnesota resigned this fall after she felt she had been demoted to a desk job after only two months as coach, according to an article by Golfweek.

Katie Brenny, 30, claims that she experienced discrimination and a hostile work environment after Minnesota's first-year director of golf, John Harris, found out that she is a lesbian, according to Brenny's attorney, Donald Chance Mark Jr.

If talking fails, Brenny will sue, Mark said in an article by CBS Minnesota.

Brenny says that Harris would not allow her to travel with the team or instruct players once he found out about her sexual orientation, according to Golfweek.

University Attorney Mark Rotenberg says Brenny's job responsibilities were discussed with her before she signed on as coach and he denies her allegations, according to CBS.

Brenny is currently discussing a financial settlement with the University, Mark said.

50 Twin Cities Chipotle employees lost their jobs after they were unable to provide the federal government with the proper documentation of their legal status.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee maintains that all 50 or so workers are Latino, according to a report by Fox 9 News.

The employees were fired from five different metro locations, including 14 from St. Paul's Grand Avenue location, 11 from Richfield, and five from Golden Valley's Chipotle, according to Fox 9.

Locations in downtown Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, and Hudson, Wisc. are among others to lose employees, according to an article by the Pioneer Press.

"I have noticed an upsurge [of audits in recent months], just from anecdotal observation," Brendan Cummins, a Minneapolis attorney who represents immigrant workers, told the Pioneer Press. "Everyone should have the right to work and support their families."

Westboro church members threatened to picket Elizabeth Edwards' funeral Saturday, according to an article by The Boston Herald.

The article says that five church members, infamous for their anti-homosexual beliefs, showed up to Edwards' funeral.

Dozens of people who were opposed to these church members disrupting the funeral showed up as well, according to an article by Time.

The Westboro Baptist Church is most known for picketing American soldiers' funerals.

Edwards, 61, was the wife of formal presidential candidate John Edwards.

She passed away from cancer earlier in the week, which, according to The Boston Herald's Margery Eagan, has nothing to do with the Westboro church besides a chance for attention from the media.

Another attempt to eliminating delays on 35W has opened today.

Bus rapid transit is now open in the middle of 35W where the 46th street bridge crosses in Minneapolis, according to a report by KSTP.

"Some of the local routes will actually stop right on the bridge," Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb said in a report by MPR. "People will be able to go downstairs or an elevator down to the freeway level in a climate-controlled environment and then catch, on a timed basis, an express bus that goes between downtown Minneapolis and suburban areas."

There are 18 other bus rapid transits services in cities around the country, according to MPR.

When the line is completed, half of the annual operating cost of about $7 million will come from the quarter-cent sales tax being paid currently by residents of Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota and Washington counties, according to MPR.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is pushing for a law that would require new vehicles to be equipped with a rear-view camera by 2014.

Every week in America, 48 children are injured and 2 die after being backed over by vehicles, according to a report by MSNBC.

MSNBC notes a Consumer Report Investigation that suggests that larger vehicles will have a larger blind spot.

The average blind spot ranges from an average of 12 feet behind sedans, to an average of 30 feet behind pick-up trucks according to MSNBC's report.

"No one would buy a car if you couldn't see 20 or 30 feet going forward," said Janette Fennell of Kidsandcars.org. "But we all have been buying vehicles where we can't see 20 or 30 feet going backward."

"There is no more tragic accident than for a parent or caregiver to back out of a garage or driveway and kill or injure an undetected child playing behind the vehicle," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an article by NBC News. "The changes we are proposing today will help drivers see into those blind zones directly behind vehicles to make sure it is safe to back up."

The regulation could cost the auto industry $1.9 billion to $2.7 billion a year, according to an article by The Street.

The debate concerning whether or not WikiLeaks is covered by the First Amendment continues, as CBS News reported.

Senator John Ensign introduced the Shield Act, which would make it illegal to publish the names of informants for the U.S. Military and the Intelligence Community.

Ensign told CBS News that he is trying to make it easier for the Attorney General and the Justice Department to go after those who put others' lives in jeopardy.

International advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders however, is just one of many groups that argue that the First Amendment should protect WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Attorney General Eric Holder recognizes that Assange may be covered by loopholes in U.S. law.

"To the extent there are gaps in our laws, we will move to close those gaps," he told CBS News. "They will be held responsible. They will be held accountable."

Those gaps in U.S. law could make it difficult to prosecute Assange, former Bush Homeland Security Advisor Kenneth Wainstein told CBS News.

Ensign argues that First Amendment rights do not apply in this situation. "Julian Assange is not a journalist," he said.

President Obama visited Afghanistan unannounced on Friday to address soldiers that are stationed there concerning their service, what is happening at home, and what to expect for the future.

"As we begin this holiday season, there's no place that I'd rather be than be here with you," he told the audience, which was comprised of 3,850 troops, according to ABC News.

He thanked the soldiers and their families for their service before showing appreciation for wounded soldiers and fallen comrades.

"It's tough business. Progress comes slow," he said. "There are going to be difficult days ahead."

Surrounded by a mostly quiet audience with the exception of a few moments of cheering, Obama continued to thank the troops, especially as they spend the holiday season away from friends and family.

"We did not become the nation that we are because we do what's easy," he said. "Because of you, I know that once more we will prevail."

The Minnesota State Patrol is increasing DWI enforcement this holiday season by partnering with about 400 law enforcement agencies, according to a news broadcast by KSTP.

Law enforcement throughout the state is expected to see 7,000 extra hours through $350,000 of federal funds, according to an article Northland's News Center.

The same article points out that these efforts are similar to those seen last December which resulted in nearly 2,600 DWI arrests.

In Minnesota, about 1 in 7 drivers has a DWI on record, according to the article.

The State Patrol asks people to plan ahead when it comes to finding a safe ride home, KSTP says.