Kiya Edwards' Weblog

The Star Tribune reported that the 21-year-old man arrested last week after allegedly approaching two 8-year-old girls in Edina for directions had a roll of duct tape, condoms and a paintball gun in his car, according to newly released court documents.

Police found the items after arresting the Fairbault, Minn. man on suspicion of attempted kidnapping. He has not yet been charged and was released from jail last Friday.

Authorities said the two girls separately reported a man drove up to them Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., asking them to get in his vehicle and guide him to Concord Elementary School. Both girls refused to give the man directions, and ran home and told their parents, television news station Kare 11 additionally reported.

The man told police he was in the area for an appointment and was lost, the Star Tribune reported.

Kare 11 reported that deputy police chief Jeff Long said the girls were walking home from school when they were approached.

An Edina teenager and another woman saw one of the incidents and called police, whom Kare11 credits with having helped prevent possible child abductions. A teenage boy stopped his car when he spotted one of the girls talking to the man. Edina resident Erica Oberlein called the police after she drove up, learned what happened and followed the vehicle to get a license plate number.

"I'm glad this teen had the foresight to stop and ask the guy what he was doing," Oberlein said. "Had he not, I would not have stopped." (Kare 11)

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Nearly two-thirds of Minnesotans think Norm Coleman should admit loss to Al Franken in the U.S. Senate race, but just as many believe the voting system that gave the state its longest running election contest needs improvement, according to those surveyed in a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.

The poll has found that 64 percent of those surveyed believe Coleman should accept the recount trial court's April 13 verdict, which showed Franken's win by 312 votes.

Only 28 percent consider last week's appeal by Coleman to the Minnesota Supreme Court "appropriate."

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said Franken should concede if Coleman were to win at the state Supreme Court, while 73 percent said Coleman should concede if Franken were to win.

The random telephone survey of 1,042 Minnesota adult produced a sample consisting of 20 percent Republicans, 36 percent Democrats and 37 percent independents, with 6 percent offering no self-identification. The poll has a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points, plus or minus.

"I voted for Coleman, but this thing has gone on way too long," said Mike McCombs, 50, a Lakeville furnace and air conditioning salesman. "Obviously, the Republican Party is trying to keep Franken's vote out of the United States Senate. We should get another [senator] in there." (Star Tribune)

The 4,400 rejected absentee ballots should be counted because they are identical to the other, already-counted ballots, Coleman said.

"While we understand the frustration that Minnesotans have, it's important to get this right, not only for the 4,400 disenfranchised Minnesotans, but for everyone so that we can all have faith in the accuracy of the final outcome," said Coleman spokesman Tom Erickson.

But the poll numbers speak for themselves, Franken spokesman Andy Barr said.

"Minnesotans understand that this process has been meticulous and fair," he said, "... that our election system in Minnesota is sound and that Al Franken received more votes than Norm Coleman on Election Day."

The same day Coleman confirmed widespread expectations that he would challenge Franken's recount trial victory in the state Supreme Court, the poll was conducted, lasting four days.

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David Perleberg sold pro-marijuana T-shirts at the forum for Monday's secretly located and sold-out event for High Times magazine's annual beauty pageant, for which its sponsor says will "turn the Big Apple into the Baked Apple," The New York Times reported.

Advocates of legal marijuana said this year’s “high holiday,” April 20, the unofficial day of celebration for marijuana, carries extra significance. Momentum toward acceptance of the drug, either as medicine or entertainment, seem to be increasing, they said.

“It is the biggest moment yet,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington. “There’s a sense that the notion of legalizing marijuana is starting to cross the fringes into mainstream debate.” (The New York Times)

From the nation’s statehouses, where more than a dozen legislatures have begun to allow some medical use, to its swimming pools, where Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was largely forgiven, the signs of changes are everywhere.

“We’ve been on national cable news more in the first three months than we typically are in an entire year,” said Bruce Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a reform group based in Washington. “And any time you’ve got Glenn Beck and Barney Frank agreeing on something, it’s either a sign that change is impending or that the end times are here.” (The New York Times)

Beneficiaries include Norml, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates legalization. Web traffic and donations, sometimes in $4.20 increments, have surged, according to Norml.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. suggested that federal law enforcement resources would not be used to pursue legitimate medical marijuana users and outlets in California and a dozen other states that allow medical use of the drug.

“The balancing act this year is trying to get our most active, most vocal supporters to be more realistic in their expectations in what the Obama administration is going to do,” said Allen F. St. Pierre, executive director of Norml.

For marijuana fans, perhaps the biggest indicator of changing attitudes is how widespread the observance of April 20 has become, including its use in marketing campaigns for movie openings like “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay,” “Super High Me” and “Half Baked."

April 20 dates to a ritual begun in the early 1970s, in which a group of Northern California teenagers smoked every day at 4:20 p.m. Word of the ritual spread and expanded to a yearly event in various places. “420” became code for smoking and using it as a sign-off on fliers for concerts where it would be plentiful.

Several colleges have urged students to just say "no" to April 20 events. At the University of Colorado, Boulder, administrators sent an e-mail message this month pleading with students not to “participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your university and degree.”

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Police said a woman in her 20s was shot and killed outside a McDonald's in Maple Grove on Sunday afternoon in what appears to be a murder-suicide, television station FOX 9 news reported.

The woman was shot just outside the door by the drive-up lane. Witnesses said it appears she was shot several times.Police were called to the restaurant at 6255 Sycamore Lane North at about 2 p.m.

McDonald's employees tried unsuccessfully to give the woman CPR, police said.

Brooklyn Park Police spotted a car matching the description of the suspect's vehicle on Interstate 94. The Pioneer Press reported that witnesses described the suspect's vehicle. Police said that as they pulled the car over, the man shot and killed himself, FOX 9 reported.

The woman and the man, who was described to be in his 20s, knew each other, and planned to meet at the restaurant where she was going to break off a year-long relationship, police said. Police said they believe he followed her into the lot, got out of his car and shot her. Police have not identified the woman yet, but said she has a 9-year-old daughter.

There were several people, including children, inside the restaurant at the time. They will be offered counseling.

It is the second shooting in a Twin Cities fast food restaurant's parking lot in about 12 hours time. Early Sunday, a 24-year-old man was shot and killed after an argument in the parking lot of a White Castle in Hopkins, the Pioneer Press additionally reported. Police are looking for two suspects.

Posted by edwar292 at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star Tribune reported that Bloomington police said a 23-year-old man is in stable condition after pretending to fall of a Minnesota River bridge, and then actually fell.

Just before 5 a.m. Sunday, a 21-year-old man called police, about his friend who fell off the Highway 77 bridge and into a marshy area about 30 feet below. He was driving north when his friend, who had been drinking, told him to pull into the bridge's emergency lane so he could urinate, he said.

The 23-year-old climbed to the ledge of the bridge, then looked at his friend and pretended to fall, and fell.

"He then in fact fell," according to a press release from the Bloomington Police Department.

Bloomington and Eagan police responded, and the Eagan Fire Department used a chair lift to retrieve the man. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he is being treated for serious injuries.

Television station FOX 9 news reported that the injuries did not seem to be life threatening. They additionally reported that resue crews were called in around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, which is before the 5 a.m. call as reported by the Star Tribune.

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Disney Theatrical Productions has been heavily discounting tickets to its three Broadway shows during the economic crisis, which has decreased weekly revenues since 2008, The New York Times reported.

Although Disney has said “The Lion King” draws more foreign tourists, “Mary Poppins” does better with an older crowd, and “The Little Mermaid” has proved popular with New Yorkers, the three musicals risk contending one another with the commonality of struggling to fill seats on weeknights. They also compete with a growing number of Broadway shows such as “Shrek,” “Hair” and “West Side Story," which appeal to parts of the core Disney audiences.

A comparison of ticket sales for the first 15 weeks of 2009 with the same period of 2008 shows that gross revenues for “The Little Mermaid” have declined 27 percent, “Mary Poppins,” about 17 percent, while “The Lion King” is off about 5 percent.

“Disney faces major questions in this economy. Can it sustain three shows at a time when the cost of going to Broadway is very high for a family of three or four, say, and can it differentiate its shows from ‘Shrek,’ ‘Wicked’ and other competitors?” said Stuart Oken, a theater producer who spent nine years at Disney Theatrical, where he served as executive vice president before leaving in 2003. (The New York Times)

Broadway has 35 shows to choose from, and many are discounting tickets. However, Disney was the first to use this marketing strategy.

“Discounting is always dangerous because once you start, it’s very hard to ever stop,” Oken said. (The New York Times)

In order for each show can pursue its target audiences through its own advertising and marketing strategies, Disney plans to separate the three this spring, said David Schrader, executive vice president of Disney Theatrical in an interview on April 1 with The New York Times.

“Out of efficiency for the past two of three years, when we could, we bundled them together — with two shows buying TV or space in the paper, for instance, or discounting all three,” Schrader said. “Now we’ll try to let each show do what it wants to do to address its needs.” (The New York Times)

Disney Theatrical executives declined to cooperate with The New York Times article.

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CNN reported that Roxana Saberi, the American journalist convicted of charges for spying in Iran, has lost weight in prison but is being treated well in her cell with two other prisoners, her father said Sunday.

"She has lost weight and she looks frail and weak," her father Reza Saber told the Associated Press in an exclusive interview. "She says she's not treated harshly. The food is pretty good and they're not hurting her. So it's just the environment of the prison that's very frustrating."

The 31-year-old Iranian-American from Fargo, North Dakota was sentenced Saturday to eight years in prison after a private one-day trial, which prompted denunciation from United States and abroad political and media officials.

Saberi's lawyer has 20 days to file an appeal, and afterward, they must wait for the court of appeals to decide, said her father, who last saw her Tuesday.

"We cannot do anything until they make a decision," he said.

He said he will stay in Iran until his daughter is released, television station FOX 9 news additionally reported from the Associated Press.

Saberi has been living in Iran since 2003, according to the journalist advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists. She has freelanced for National Public Radio and other news organizations, and was writing a book about Iranian culture.

Saberi continued to file short news items without permission after Iranian authorities revoked her press credentials in 2006, the journalists' group said.

Saberi was detained in January, although no formal charges were disclosed. Officials initially said she was held for buying a bottle of wine. The Foreign Ministry later said she was detained for reporting without proper accreditation.

By April 9, Saberia had ben charged with espionage. She confessed to the charges, authorities said. Her father said he believed she was coerced into making damaging statements.

"Without press credentials and under the name of being a reporter, she was carrying out espionage activities," Hassan Haddad, a deputy public prosecutor, told the Iranian Students News Agency. (CNN)

Her father said tactics used for confessions are the same in security prison as they are for political prisoners, which leads to saying untruthful things in hopes of release from prison.

"Most probably, such tactics were used on our daughter but, again, further investigation is needed," he said.

In addition to Saberi, another Iranian-American student remains detained in Iran.

In addition to Seberi, Estha Momeni, another Iranian-American student, remains detained in Iran after an arrest last October. At a conference on Afghanistan in the Netherlands earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a letter to the Iranian delegation asking for information on her release.

Clinton also inquired about Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in March 2007.

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The New York Times reported that at least 9 people have been killed and more than 33,300 homes were destroyed by a tropical cyclone on Madagascar, the authorities said Friday.

The cyclone, Jade, landed Monday in the northeastern region of the vast island and has now moved on, leaving enough rain to heighten fears of serious floods.

CNN additionally reported that Jade's winds of 69 mph cut power, which made it difficult to asses damage levels.

"No one has been able to get there yet. There is no electricity, no telephone. We know nothing about what happened there," said Didier Young, emergency coordinator for the humanitarian group CARE. (CNN)

However, some information has come about the strom, from a man who rode out on his motorcycle. He explained that the roads are impassable by car because of heavy damage, Young said.

Young and other CARE workers hope to take a helicopter over the hardest-hit areas later Monday, because bad weather prevented them to do so earlier, he said.

Young said many people in Madagascar, with about a 19.4 million population, live in huts.

"The huts are not very strong," he said. "The houses are made of local materials." (CNN)

As of noon, the storm had weakened and was moving southwest over land, according to AccuWeather.com.

In January, at least 9 people died and more than 20,000 lost their homes after two cyclones hit the island, the New York Times reported. Cyclone Ivan made landfall on the island's northeastern coast with sustained winds near 70 mph (111 km/h), according to the Typhoon Warning Center, CNN reported.

Posted by edwar292 at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an attempt to reach his fan base on a more intimate level, the Floridian rapper has made his personal cell phone number public, CNN reported.

Tramar Dillard, more commonly known as Flo Rida, said he responds to about 30 percent of calls and texts he gets. If he does not have time to answer or call back, he will text back.

"If they can go out and buy my albums, I can at least make the sacrifice to holler at the few people who call," he said. "A lot of times I'm busy so they'll get my voice mail. And if I can speak to them and I have time, I always text back. Because I think that's very important." (CNN)

However, most people get flustered when they actually reach the top-selling, in-demand rapper that they hang up. In an interview with CNN, as his phone continued to light up, he answered a call where exactly that happened.

"Most of them hang up," he said in the interview. "They don't think it's really me." (CNN)

Flo Rida's single, "Low," featuring rapper T-Pain, broke digital sales records last year, selling 467,000 downloads in its first week. His new single "Right Round," featuring singer Kesha, sold more than 636,000 downloads in the week after its release. It also hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart.

Flo Rida is also scheduled to be a guest on "American Idol."

Having an international fan base is also important to Flo Rida, who wanted to study international business in school. He has a number one record in nearly 12 different countries.

"To me, that's like having nine lives. Most people don't even have an idea that you can really sell music overseas" he said. (CNN)

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Police arrested a Sunday school teacher in connection with the killing of an 8-year-old Tracy, Calif., girl whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond by farmworkers last week, the Star Tribune reported.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, a local minister's granddaughter, was arrested late Friday, police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said. She was being held without bail in connection with the death of Sandra Cantu, who disappeared on March 27.

Huckaby walked into the police station Friday and started a conversation with officers, Sheneman said. She went back and forth from being calm to emotional, eventually becoming "resigned," he said.

FOX News additionally reported that Huckaby voluntarily went to police for questioning and was taken into custody nearly five hours later, at 1 a.m. Saturday.

“She gave enough information to us during the course of the interview that probable cause was there to arrest her,” Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said. (FOX News)

The Star Tribune reported that police said Huckaby's daughter was a close friend of Cantu. Cantu's mother was devastated, said Angie Chavez, Cantu's aunt, to the Associated Press. Cantu lived in a mobile home park with her mother.

"It's not over," Chavez said. "This is just the beginning of a horrible nightmare."

$32,000 was the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cantu's killer, last seen skipping down the street near her mobile home, police announced in a Friday afternoon press conference, FOX News reported.

No autopsy results have yet been released. Police said they do not know the motive for the killing.

"I want to know why she did it, if she did it," Chaves said. (FOX News)

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A Brooklyn Park man talked for nearly 40-minutes Thursday about his life and new faith in God after being sentenced to 32 years in jail for murdering his wife, the Star Tribune reported.

Nigerian immigrant Michael Collins Iheme, 51, said he knows God has forgiven him, quoting several Bible verses that warn against responding to evil with evil and a song he wrote calling his dead wife "the heart of her husband."

"I saw everything she did to me as rubbish," he said. "This marriage was done with good intention. It ended unfortunately. I wish I had the Holy Spirit like I have now. I would have overcome." (Star Tribune)

"Your conduct was horrific by any measure," said Hennepin County District Judge Mel Dickstein, as she politely cut off his speech to sentence him.

A jury convicted Iheme in February of second-degree murder for the death of Anthonia Iheme, 28, as she sat in her car July 24 in the parking lot of Sholom Home West in St. Louis Park. He then called police and said, "I have killed the woman that mess my life up."

Television station FOX 9 News additionally reported that Iheme shot his wife.

The Star Tribune reported that Iheme killed his wife after she admitted he was not the father of their youngest child, the defense said. Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Deborah Russell argued for premeditated first-degree murder because Iheme knew about the betrayal before the day he killed her. His wife "confirmed" Iheme's suspicions about the child that day, according to his comments, and the fit of rage was not new to Iheme.

Iheme did not care about the lives of his wife or children, judge Dickstein said. He was nonetheless convicted of second-degree murder.

No family members spoke for Anthonia Iheme. Russell said the family lives out of state.

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The Star Tribune reported that a body recovered from the Mississippi River Saturday morning in St. Paul matches the description of the woman seen jumping from a bridge a few weeks ago, and is not that of the missing University of St. Thomas student, police said.

The woman's body, tangled in debris, was found by employees of a barge company at 8:30 a.m. near the intersection of Childs and Shepard Roads. Police are waiting for a positive identification of the woman from the Ramsey County medical examiner.

Volunteers continued searching Saturday for Dan Zamlen, the St. Thomas freshman who disappeared one week ago after leaving a party early Sunday morning. Police have stopped searching.

Police said they have reached a point where they have searched everywhere they can, television station FOX 9 News additionally reported.

The Star Tribune reported that Zamlen, 19, was last believed to be at the intersection of Mississippi River Boulevard S. and St. Clair Avenue when his phone abruptly cut out, said Anna Chapuis, his friend. He has not been seen since.

By boat and helicopter, police had searched the Mississippi River, while others searched the river bluffs with no sign of Zamlen.

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In the story reported by FOX News, controversy about President Obama's alleged bow, or rather, bending at the waist, to Saudi King Abdullah is examined.

The report moved beyond stereotypes because it analyzed both sides of the argument. It did not state Obama, who has said the American people need to create better relationships with Muslims, bowed for that reason and did not bow in his recent visit to Queen Elizabeth. The argument was not one-sided, therefore both sides needed to be covered; and that they were.

The story first talks about conservatives who were outraged with the bow, and that the White house denied it was bow. Through a quote from the Washington Times editorial, "By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States," one argument about this cultural debate is clearly written.

And although the reported chose the term "significantly stooping" to describe the alleged bow, analyszed from actual footage, the story nonetheless showed the opposing side in an unbiased way by adding information from history.

US hospitality is examined by protocol experts, suggesting that even if it were a bow, it may not be such a problem conservatives have made it out to be. The reporter reminds the readers of the interactions of presidents Clinton and Bush and their encounters with foreign leaders.

Adding that information is helpful because it goes beyond saying what actually happened and provides the reader with information that might even create better cultural sensitivity and understanding, while still not ignoring the opposing, conservative viewpoint.

Posted by edwar292 at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chicago sculptor Nick Cave's work is a new exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts show in California, the New York Times reported.

An Alvin Ailey-trained dancer, Cave, 50, has become known over the last decade for making sculptures which can be worn by (modern) dancers, which he has named Soundsuits.

Some Soundsuits make noise from the design, from the clanking of metal toys and tops atop a bodysuit made of crocheted hot pads, to a suit whose exteriors is made from twigs collected outside, which, broken and forsaken reminded him of himself and became his first soundsuit.

Others, however, fall quiet; like the Soundsuits made of human hair.

The Soundsuits also explore themes of costuming, masquerading and de-identifying gender and race. The suits marry his passions of dance and sculpture.

“I was always interested in movement,” he said, “but I knew I didn’t want to devote myself exclusively to dance. I wanted to bridge dance and art.” (New York Times)

The current exhibition, "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth, features 40 Soundsuits, related photographs, videos and sculptures. It runs through July 5.

To accommodate the name, a globe sculpture is at the center of the main gallery. Caves said this is because he hopes the fruits of his imagination will help bring strangers together, if only to compare their perplexed responses.

“I’ve been a voyeur at other shows of mine in the past, and I’ve seen complete strangers talking to each other,” he said. “They were saying, ‘What is that?’ Or, ‘I remember when my mother made doilies like that.’ ” (New York Times)

He kick-started his career as his mother enthusiastically praised his artwork as early as handmade birthday cards.

“When you’re raised by a single mother with six brothers and lots of hand-me-downs, you have to figure out how to make those clothes your own,” he said. “That’s how I started off, using things around the house.” (New York Times)

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The Daily Nation reported that Somali pirates hijacked a 20,000 ton German container vessel Sunday in their latest attack on the Indian Ocean’s busy commercial shipping lanes, a regional maritime group said.

The heavily armed gangs from the lawless Horn of Africa nation hijacked dozens of vessels. Last year, they did the same in the Gulf of Aden, taking hundreds of sailors hostage and making off with millions of dollars in ransoms.

Foreign navies have continuously rushed warships to the area in response, but there are still hijacking attempts almost daily. The navies reduced the number of successful attempts, however.

The latest happened Saturday, about 400 miles off the southern Somali port of Kismayu, which is between the Seychelles and Kenya, said Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Program.

“We believe the German ship has 24 crew on board. We’re trying to establish their identities and the name of the vessel,” Mwangura told Reuters. (Daily Nation)

Somali pirates took two European-owned tankers late last month. Last week, pirates hijacked a second vessel flying the Indian Ocean nation’s flag. The Seychelles military then deployed security forces on its outer islands.

The pirates typically use speed boats launched from mother ships to take the captured vessels to remote coastal village bases in Somalia, where their hostages have awaited a large payment of ransom money.

In January, Somali gunmen freed the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil, and its crew of 25 after $3 million was parachuted onto its deck.

They also hijacked a Ukrainian cargo ship in September, which carried 33 Soviet-era T-72 tanks. It was released in February for a $3.2 million ransom.

The arrival of high-tech foreign warships in the waters off their country has made their work more dangerous, pirates said.

One gang member, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters News he had been part of an aborted attack on another large commercial vessel late Saturday.

“We opened fire on a ship near the Gulf of Aden, but our ladder was too short to climb up,” he said. “It escaped at high speed. We were nine pirates in two speed boats and immediately we came back. We feared attacks by the warships.” (Reuters)

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The St. Paul Como Zoo's, 47-year-old Caribbean Flamingo, Harriet, was euthanized last week to end her long battle with cancer, television station Fox 9 News reported.

Harriet had cancer since 1998. Her right middle tow was amputated do to cancerous growth, but she survived cancer as well as radiation treatments. However, cancer returned in 2002, and Harriet's left middle toe was amputated.

The lifespan of flamingos is 20-30 years, some living up to 50.

She had been at the Como Zoo for 39 years. She frequently made trips to the University of Minnesota for radiation treatment and became accustomed enough to sit quietly on the lap of a zookeeper with her head peering out the vehicle window, the Como Zoo said.

The Star Tribune reported the loved flamingo's death as an obituary seen mostly for humans.

"Harriet, a Caribbean flamingo that welcomed visitors to the Como Park Zoo for nearly 40 years, has died of cancer. She was 47." (Star Tribune)

In her final days, Fox 9 reported, Harriet had difficulty standing on her right foot, as flamingos comfortably do, along with weight loss and a poor appetite. She had systemic infection as well as heart issues, according to blood-work.

Harriet is survived by her longtime flamingo partner, Ozzie, four additional Caribbean flamingos and 13 Chilean flamingos.

The Star Tribune additionally reported that an autopsy, or necropsy- the animal equivilant, will be done. Results are expected to be in next week.

Posted by edwar292 at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star Tribune reported that a Metro Transit bus driver has been fired in connection to his arrest on suspicion of driving drunk in his bus last month, an agency spokesperson said Thursday.

Alonzo V. Martin's Route 5 bus swerved all over the road on March 21, and he now faces two misdemeanor counts. The bus swerved from Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center, which prompted witnesses to call the police. Martin, 46, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.24, which is six times the legal limit for commercial drivers, police said, and he tried to hide a can of beer.

Martin did not work after his arrest and was discharged March 23 for "gross misconduct," involving a violations of the Metropolitan Council's drug and alcohol policy, in three areas, said Bob Gibbons, spokesman for Metro Transit.

The misconduct also involved falsification of an employment application and falsification of statements to a manager's inquiry, Gibbons said.

Although the incident is a first in its history, the Metro Transit has made a task force to study its hiring and employment rules related to substance abuse and driving records. Martin had a history of traffic violations, and the agency is researching whether its three-year background check on all applicants should have disqualified him.

Gibbons would not specify what was falsified on Martin's application. He had six business days to appeal, but did not.

A woman who answered the phone at Martin's home in St. Paul on Thursday said she had no information and hung up, the Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press additionally reported that the 46-year-old was hired in January 2008 and elevated to full-time status this February.

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The Star Tribune reported that a University of St. Thomas freshman remains missing from Sunday's 2 a.m. phone call to his friends, who reported it. The student told his friends he was walking on St. Clair Avenue toward Mississippi River Boulevard S. He had left a house party after getting into a verbal dispute, said St. Paul police spokesman Pete Panos.

On Sunday, dozens of family members and friends searched for Dan Zamlen, 18, of Eveleth, Minn.

Television station Kare 11 News reported that Panos said Zamlen is not officially missing until Monday morning, once 24-hours pass, because he is an adult and does have the right to be out of touch.

Zamlen spoke with friends Anna Chappuis and Sarah Nelson on his cell phone after leaving the party without telling any of his friends. Zamlen drank alcohol, but should not have because he has Type I diabetes, friends and family members said.

Nelson said Zamlen's tone concerned her, so she asked Chappuis to pick him up, who then asked where he was going and offered to have him come to her house.

Chappuis drove toward the Mississippi River, pleading with Zamlen to look for her car headlights.

"The last thing I heard was, 'Oh my gosh, Anna, where are you? Help!'" Chappuis said. (Star Tribune)

Zamlen's voice grew distant as he said those last few words, she said, and it was as if he were moving away from his cell phone before the phone cut out. It then rang unanswered for several hours afterward before going straight to voicemail, indicating that its battery was dead, friends and family members said.

Todd Gleason, his roommate, said it is unusual for Zamlen not to call if he is not going to return to their dorm room in Brady Residence Hall. He would not ignore their phone calls, even if he were mad, his friends said.

Friends refused to reveal what upset Zamlen, but said it was not an extraordinary disagreement.

By noon Sunday, St. Thomas students and faculty received text-messages and e-mails about it through the university's emergency notification system.

Against police recommendations, friends and family members searched from 3 a.m. into late afternoon. Police did not send anyone into the bluff area to conduct a search until about 4:30 p.m.

Television station Kare 11 News reported that by 8:30 Sunday morning, they called police to report that Dan was gone.

Zamlen participated in several sports in high school in Virginia, where he was editor of Generation W newspaper. He also volunteered at his Catholic church, was an Eagle Scout, and wants to study business law, the Star Tribune reported.

"He was a good role model," Dale Zamlen, his father, said. "I should say, 'He is a good role model." (Star Tribune)

Zamlen is 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds; he has blue eyes and dark blond hair. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket, blue jeans, a striped polo shirt and Doc Martin shoes. He was carrying a black Iphone and his green OmniPod.

"I just want to get to him," Sally Zamlen, his mother, said. "He needs to be warm and dry and safe." (Star Tribune)

Posted by edwar292 at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the New York Times story, "Google and Big Music Labels Bet on Downloads in China," percentages are mostly used to convey what is going on.

The percentages share that: 99% of downloads in China violate copyright laws. The competing Chinese company, Baidu, has a search market share approaching 65 percent. About 84 percent of China’s nearly 300 million Internet users download music over the Web, and most of it is used for cellphone ring tones.

These three sets of numbers are not overwhelming. The only slight confusion is what a search market is as it pertains to music. The 65 percent could have been dumbed down by adding an analysis; something like, this is large compared to the music share of Google, which is just half (or doubled- I do not know). This is an example of how the reported could use math to crunch numbers and tell the story more effectively.

The third use of numbers is especially easy to understand. Although this reporter has been using exact numbers, there are only four within the entire story. Therefore, seeing 84 percent out of a stated population is not overwhelming to "calculate"; to see that it is the majority of internet users.

Posted by edwar292 at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)