CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) - A central Ohio man who fired five gunshots at a tractor being used to mow a ditch along his property has pleaded guilty to felonious assault and could be sent to prison. Pickaway County prosecutor Judy Wolford says Randall Turner entered the plea Friday. The 53-year-old Turner faces two to eight years in prison.

A tractor operator told sheriff's deputies Aug. 4 he'd been confronted by an angry man with a handgun while he mowed the edge of Turner's property in Ashville, 20 miles south of Columbus.

Turner said he fired the shots to disable the tractor. The operator wasn't hurt, but a bullet ricocheted and grazed Turner's forehead.

Turner sued the county in 2007, saying his property had been damaged by the mowing. The lawsuit was dismissed last week.

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) - Police said a northeast Missouri mother used her 1-year-old child to shield a man from a Taser during a confrontation with officers. The woman, 20, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and interfering with an arrest. She was arrested Tuesday night and placed at the Marion County jail on a 24-hour hold.

The child, whose gender police did not release, was placed with another family member.

Officers were at an apartment checking on an assault claim made by the woman when a man confronted them, making threats. One of the officers displayed a Taser as the man approached.

Police said the mother offered her child to the man, placing the toddler in the Taser's path. The man, 22, faces two counts of resisting arrest.

NEW YORK (AP) - Two fathers in their 20's have been accused of drag racing on a New York City highway while their very young children sat in the back. Westchester County police said the Bronx residents were seen weaving their cars through traffic at speeds of up to 80 miles-an-hour on the Bronx River Parkway Wednesday night.

An officer said there were two children in each car ranging in age from an infant to a 6-year-old. Their mothers sat in the front seat.

Police charged the drivers with illegal speed contest, reckless driving and endangering the welfare of a child. They were also issued tickets for speeding, unsafe lane change, following too closely and seat belt violations. Both men were freed on $250 bail.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Police said an intoxicated 21-year-old broke into a house, apparently thinking he was at his own home. Police arrested the man in the basement of the house Saturday morning. He told them he was in his home.

The man actually lives a few streets over. He had forced his way into the house, and was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and vandalism.

Two PETA members in red bikinis will be crammed together in a tank of "bloody" water with the message "McDonald's Scalds Chicks to Death" outside a McDonald's restaurant in Chattanooga on Friday, the group said.

PETA officials said it is a protest of "the abuse that chickens suffer in slaughterhouses that supply the fast-food chain."

Other PETA members will hold signs reading, "McCruelty: i'm hatin' it."

PETA officials said, "Because electric stun tanks in U.S. slaughterhouses administer only a fraction of the voltage needed to render chickens insensible to pain, birds who are paralyzed by the tanks are usually still conscious when their throats are cut. Government studies show that birds feel pain after being shocked, even if they can't move.

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, millions of birds — who are still conscious and able to feel pain — are immersed in the scalding-hot water of defeathering tanks every year."

"We're heating things up to help customers see exactly how cold-hearted McDonald's is when it comes to chickens," said PETA's Lindsay Rajt. "People will flock to other restaurants when they learn that McDonald's is too cheap to make basic changes that would prevent birds from being scalded to death."

The protestors plan to be at the McDonald's at 4829 Brainerd Road at noon on Friday.

PARSIPPANY –– Assault rifles and other high-powered weapons were among more than 40 guns confiscated Thursday morning from a Lake Hiawatha house after authorities raided the home and arrested its owner, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said. <o:p></o:p>

Police converged at the 43 Roosevelt Ave. home of Adam Coughlan at 12:15 a.m. and found that many of the firearms were fully loaded, in addition to recovering thousands of rounds of ammunition, Bianchi said.

Coughlan was taken into custody without incident, said Captain Jeffrey Paul of the prosecutor's office.

Bianchi said the suspect was charged with three counts of unlawful possession of an assault firearm with a high-capacity detachable magazine and unlawful possession of high-capacity magazines. He was remanded to the Morris County jail on $200,000 cash bail. <o:p></o:p>

Bianchi declined to elaborate on what led to the arrest, which came after what authorities described as a short-term undercover gun investigation.

Parsippany Police Chief Michael Peckerman, asked about the gun seizure, said it was not the largest in the town's history. Peckerman alluded to a narcotics investigation in the late 1980s which netted approximately 100 firearms.

The investigation was conducted by the prosecutor's Intelligence Crime Task Force and Major Crimes Unit, in partnership with the Parsippany police and the county sheriff's office.

"This arrest again represents the benefits of pursuing an intelligence/community led policing strategy," Bianchi said.

Bianchi said his office is working with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the state police and county sheriff's office to determine whether the seized weapons were used in any other violent crimes.

"This investigation is ongoing and it will take us several days to sort through the voluminous amounts of evidence which was seized. Additional charges are anticipated," Bianchi said.

State Attorney General Anne Milgram also issued a statement on the arrest.

"This is another example of how important it is for law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, county and local levels to share information and resources and target the most dangerous suspects, I applaud Prosecutor Bianchi and the team he put together in this investigation in getting this cache of dangerous weapons off the streets," Milgram said.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) –– On paper, he has 20 possibly 21 children.

With a minimum wage job, he can't afford to support them all.

What is the state to do?

Desmond Hatchett, 29, told WVLT he wasn't out to set a record, though he certainly holds it in Knox County Juvenile Child Support Court.

Hatchett's children range in age from newborn 11.

There are at least 11 mothers; probably several more.

Constitutionally, there is nothing the state can do to limit him from having more.

"I had four kids in the same year. Twice." Desmond Hatchett told Volunteer TV.

On Friday, his name appeared on the docket 11 times; Representing about 15 of his 21 children.

"Can you keep up with it all?" WVLT asked Hatchett.
"Yeah," he said.
"You know all their names, and ages and birthdays?"
"Yeah."

Hatchett's name is pretty controversial at the old courthouse.

"The children can't be supported all by Desmond, so the state of Tennessee has had to step in," Hatchett's attorney Keith Pope said.

It's your tax dollars at work.

WVLT spoke with one mom who has two children with Hatchett.
She is supposed to get $67.50 a month. But many times, she gets a lot less than what she's owed.
They all do.

"It'll make it through half the month," the unidentified mom said.

She told Volunteer TV, Hatchett is the father of her two sons. And she says her 4-year-old is expensive enough on his own. "He's a heavy milk drinker. And milk is not cheap," she said.

"It's frustrating, but usually, when I ask he give it to me," she continued.

It's due process–– the state is only allowed to take 50% of Hatchett's paycheck.
That's 50% split multiple times.

"You look at when they filed, how many children they have–– he has several mothers that he has two children with. And, it's tough" Pope explained.

Still, Hatchett says the women knew what they were getting into.
They were all aware of his large family.

One said, she doesn't like it but she deals with it. "It's about the kids. Not the parents," she said.

Hatchett agrees he should do what's best for the kids.

"Do you intend to keep having children?" WVLT asked.
"No." Hatchett replied.
"You're done?"
"I'm done. I'll say I'm done."
"What made you say that?"
"I didn't intend to have this many. It just happened," Hatchett said.

Desmond Hatchett spent part of Friday afternoon jailed while a child support referee decided how to split up the $400 he brought to court.

If he doesn't pay what he owes, he will go back to jail because he is on an automatic jail order.

The mothers of Hatchett's children are supposed to get anywhere from $25 to $309 a month, but when his paycheck is garnished amongst them all, some women only get a $1.98 a month.

On Thursday, May 28, at 10:00 A.M., the Committee on Criminal Justice will be holding a hearing on Assembly Bill 221, which would require all newly manufactured handguns sold in Wisconsin to incorporate "micro-stamping" technology. Micro-stamping is flawed, unreliable, and unproven technology that will burden not only law abiding citizens, but law enforcement agencies as well.

Micro-stamping legislation supporters claim it will help police solve crimes, but their real purpose is to price handguns beyond the reach of many Americans, by requiring firearms to be made with the gadgetry necessary to create the markings, or to ban handguns by requiring that they "micro-stamp" more consistently than is technologically possible.

CARROLLTON, OH —
A 62-year-old Carrollton area man was found unconscious and unresponsive Thursday morning during an intense search overnight by Carroll County sheriff deputies, an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper and the patrol’s airplane.

Williams said he attempted to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill and the Verizon operator refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff’s department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay $20 on the phone bill in order to find the man. But deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment.

"I was more concerned for the person’s life,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill. Ridiculous.”

As high-tech licenses become increasingly hard to forge, the Department of Motor Vehicles has found that one popular approach to obtaining fraudulent license is for someone to pose as a friend or colleague in an effort to get an official license.  New high-tech software uses facial recognition to warn officials if the face of the person being licensed matches someone already licensed.

However, there's one problem –– the algorithms often fail if people are making different faces in the two photos.  So four states –– Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia –– are telling drivers to wipe that grin off their face.  No more happy days for licensing, the states have declared, drivers must adopt "neutral facial expressions".

Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor Takeo Kanade acknowledges that the move is necessary given the poor state of facial recognition technology when it comes to facial expressions.  Researchers still have yet to catch up to the inherent processing capability of the human brain, which can recognize familiar faces in a broad variety of expressions.

Karen Chappell, deputy commissioner of the Virginia DMV says that the smile ban is necessary to "make the comparison process more accurate."

Some citizens who were initially offended are changing their tune, deciding that the rule is in the best interest of national security.  States Elaine Mullen of Great Falls, Va., "It's probably safer from a national-security point of view."

Arkansas, Indiana and Nevada do still allow small smiles.  Currently 31 states in total do computerized matching of driver's license photos, and 3 others are considering it.  Of the 27 other states without anti-smiling policies, many are considering adopting similar measures.  Some states though are resisting the movement.  Pennsylvania Transportation Department spokesman Craig Yetter, states, "People can smile here in Pennsylvania."

Even without a smile-ban, Illinois stopped 6,000 people from getting fraudulent licenses since 1999, according to Beth Langen, the state head of Drivers Services.

MANSFIELD (CBS 11 News) ―

Is it okay to show your patriotism at the office?

For one Arlington woman, the answer was "no" after she hung an American flag in her office just before the Memorial Day weekend.

Debbie McLucas is one of four hospital supervisors at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield. Last week, she hung a three-by-five foot American flag in the office she shares with the other supervisors.

When McLucas came to work Friday, her boss told her another supervisor had found her flag offensive. "I was just totally speechless. I was like, 'You're kidding me,'" McLucas said.

McLucas' husband and sons are former military men. Her daughter is currently serving in Iraq as a combat medic.

Stifling a cry, McLucas said, "I just wonder if all those young men and women over there are really doing this for nothing."

McLucas said the supervisor who complained has been in the United States for 14 years and is formerly from Africa. McLucas said that supervisor took down the flag herself.

"The flag and the pole had been placed on the floor," McLucas said. But McLucas also said hospital higher-ups had told her some patients' families and visitors had also complained.

"I was told it wouldn't matter if it was only one person," she said. "It would have to come down."

McLucas said hospital bosses told her as far as patriotism was concerned, the flag flying outside the hospital building would have to suffice.

"I find it very frightening because if I can't display my flag," McLucas asked, "what other freedoms will I lose before all is said and done?"

DALLAS - Frank Larison is a disabled veteran with more than 14 years of service, including more than a year of combat duty in Vietnam.

The 58-year-old former Marine now finds himself under attack by his Dallas homeowners association for displaying seven decals on his vehicle supporting the Marine Corps.

"To me, it's being patriotic, and it shows that I served," the veteran told FOX 4.

The board says the decals are advertisements that violate HOA rules, and must be covered or removed.

Otherwise, the homeowners association for The Woodlands II on The Creek ––- where Larimore has lived for eight years ––- says in a letter it will tow the car at Larimore's expense. The board also threatens to fine him $50 for any future incident.

Larimore says the decals, ranging from the Marine emblem to Semper Fi slogans, aren't advertisements for anything. "You can't buy freedom," he reasoned.

Some neighbors are outraged.

"That is his identity," said neighbor Mary Castagna. "He goes to a lot of the veteran meetings, and it means a lot to him. Everyone else agrees with it; it doesn't bother anybody."

"He's in the Marines, and he's proud of it, and I don't blame him," said neighbor Paul Hardy. "If I'd gone through what he's gone through, I'd be kind of proud of it myself."

The letter from the board states you can't have any form of advertisement anywhere on your car on your property. FOX 4 cameras spotted bumper stickers for political parties, health causes, and other non-commercial interests on the property as well.

One board member said he was unaware the HOA presidents sent the letter and did not know of any issue with Larimore's vehicle.

"I will be looking into it," said board member Art Bradford. "I didn't know anything about this. I haven't seen this."

The board president was out of town and unavailable. The condo management company did not want to comment.

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man arrested for mowing unkempt grass at a public park says he just wanted to make his city look nice.
John Hamilton said he took control of the situation because the grass in Sandusky’s Central Park was about a foot high.
According to a police report, a witness said Hamilton was blowing grass onto the sidewalk and shredding trash in the park that had not been picked up. Police said they arrested the 48-year-old Hamilton after he refused to stop mowing and charged him with obstructing official business and disorderly conduct.

City Manager Matt Kline called the arrest unfortunate and said he understands Hamilton’s frustration. Kline said budget cuts have left Sandusky understaffed for seasonal maintenance work.

Texas Senate Endorses Freeway Spy Cameras
Legislation mandating federal and state police surveillance cameras on Texas state highways nears passage.

The Texas state Senate voted Monday to give federal, state and local authorities the ability to track and identify every passing vehicle on state highways. The provision calling for "automatic license plate identification cameras" was slipped into the Senate version of the must-pass Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reauthorization bill. The provision was not part of the bill introduced in the state House of Representatives, whose less sympathetic members will have to accept or reject the entire 1274-page compromise hammered out by a conference committee. The House voted yesterday to instruct its conferees to insist that the House-passed ban on red light cameras remain in the final text.

The Senate's surveillance camera proposal promises taxpayer funds to the same private companies that operate photo radar and red light camera systems threatened by the House bill. License plate readers use the same basic technology as automated ticketing machines. Instead of tracking, for example, only those who exceed a certain speed threshold, the plate readers will store a video image of the front passenger compartment and rear license plate of every single passing vehicle. Optical character recognition software identifies the registered vehicle owner and allows for easy indexing of the time and location of travel for each person identified using the highway.

The Senate-passed bill gives police broad authority for the first time to use this information to prosecute any state or federal crime, as long as it is not a traffic violation "punishable by fine only." The bill also specifies that the cameras may be used to find suspects in amber alert cases, missing senior citizens and those accused of killing a police officer. The capability to search for suspects is exactly what troubles one civil rights group.

"Proponents will argue the readers are looking for bad guys –– drug smugglers and other criminals –– but the cameras cannot distinguish between your SUV and a drug smuggler's SUV," the Texas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. "The readers are technology and as with any technology, they have a tendency to make errors. In this case, the implications are traffic stops of drivers misidentified as suspects wanted for serious crimes."

In some cases, those errors can turn deadly. On May 19, 2008 a Northumbria, UK police officer received an Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) alert about a passing Renault Megane automobile. Believing the vehicle could be driven by a dangerous criminal, the officer began following the Renault and hit speeds of 94 MPH in a residential neighborhood without using his siren. After cresting a hill, the police Volvo slammed into and killed sixteen-year-old pedestrian Hayley Adamson who did not see the police car coming. It turns out the database was wrong and the driver being chased was completely innocent. (View video of the incident up to the moment of the crash).

British authorities have been using ANPR for several years, working to centralize ANPR data to allow police to keep tabs on criminals and political opponents. A data center in North London offers real-time, nationwide tracking capability. Australian and American red light camera companies hope to offer the same centralized tracking services in the US.

The license plate provision attached to the TxDOT sunset bill passed the full Senate last month without debate as Senate Bill 1426. The language was drafted by state Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands).

Keshav Rajagopalan example of jumping into a teen's business in a seemingly arbitrary way is the tanning booth bill, passed by the House, that prohibits those 16 ½ and younger from using tanning beds. For those 16 ½ to 18, it would require a parent to sign a consent form in person at the establishment.

Laubenberg would tend to agree. "We're stepping into an area where government is becoming the parent and not letting the parents be parents," she said.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor.

Now Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder in a case that has stirred a furious debate over vigilante justice and self-defense and turned the pharmacist into something of a folk hero.

Ersland, 57, is free on $100,000 bail, courtesy of an anonymous donor.

District Attorney David Prater said Ersland was justified in shooting 16-year-old Antwun Parker once in the head, but not in firing the additional shots into his belly. The prosecutor said the teenager was unconscious, unarmed, lying on his back and posing no threat when Ersland fired what the medical examiner said were the fatal shots.

If convicted, Ersland could be sentenced to life in prison with or without parole, or receive the death penalty.

Jevontia Ingram, the 14-year-old boy accused of wielding the gun in the robbery, was arrested Thursday. The district attorney on Friday filed a first-degree murder charge against him, as well as against a man accused of being the getaway driver, and another man suspected of helping talk the teens into the crime.

The charges accuse all three of sharing responsibility for Parker's shooting death.

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. –– A Spotsylvania man's family turned him in to police after he admitted to "fooling around" with the family dog, according to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office. Ward admitted to a deputy that he had touched the dog inappropriately and that he'd had the dog perform sexual acts on him, according to the sheriff's office.

A vet examined the dog and found that her anal glands were swollen, the sheriff's office said.

The accusing relative said the dog had been acting strange for several weeks.

Ward's being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Sources said Monday afternoon that the youth who escaped Saturday from the New Beginnings Youth Center in Laurel, Md. ––  embarrassing the $45 million juvenile facility that just opened on Friday –– finally was recaptured Monday.

The escape of a juvenile inmate from a new "anti-prison" leaves officials embarrassed.

The sources said the juvenile was found in northeast Washington by a youth rehabilitation department employee.  The juvenile is now back in custody with D.C. Police.

The New Beginnings Youth Center in Laurel, Md., was described as an "anti-prison" in many of the warm and fuzzy stories written about it leading up to its opening on Friday. How apropos, because how can it be a prison if it can't keep the inmates inside.

On Saturday the kid escaped by scaling a fence. It appears officials knew that fencing would be a problem, according to the Washington Post. The old Oak Hill facility had razor wire on its fence, but that wasn't part of the new home. It turned out to be a bad move.

A day before the facility opened, Schiraldi and David Muhammad, chief of committed services, said they had brought in young men to try to scale the fences and made modifications based on what they observed. Schiraldi said he planned to place prickly shrubbery, possibly rose bushes, near the fence so inmates would not be tempted to flee.

Prickly shrubbery? Something tells us the kids in this facility have seen far worse in their lives than a little prickly shrubbery.

So after Saturday's escape, razor wire was added to the new facility's fence.

So much for the anti-prison.

WASHINGTON –– Shoppers using paper or plastic bags to haul home their groceries will likely face a fee in Washington, which is poised to join a small number of U.S. cities targeting disposable bags as a way to reduce trash.

The D.C. Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to legislation requiring shoppers to pay 5 cents per disposable bag at grocery, drug, convenience and liquor stores. Shoppers can avoid the fee by bringing their own bags.

The unanimous vote almost certainly assures the bill will win final passage later this month. If it's signed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, the fees would take effect in January.

A number of jurisdictions have considered bans or fees on disposable bags as a way to reduce garbage in waterways, parks and streets. But many proposals, such as those in neighboring cities like Baltimore and Annapolis, Md., have foundered amid criticism from retailers.

"Anybody doing any kind of legislation on disposable bags is in the forefront of this issue," said Darby Hoover, a resource specialist with the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council.

Most of the money raised by bag fees would go toward cleaning the Anacostia River, which is polluted by 20,000 tons of trash each year, District officials said. Plastic bags account for almsot half the garbage in the river and its tributaries, Councilwoman Mary Cheh said.

"The Anacostia River is one of the most polluted in the country," Cheh said. "The level of trash in the river has become so bad that if nothing is done, the district could be fined tens of millions of dollars by the EPA."

About 270 million disposable paper or plastic bags are used in grocery, drug, convenience and liquor stores in D.C. each year. That number would drop by half the first year the fee is adopted and by 80 percent within four years, officials estimate.

The fee is initially expected to raise about $3.5 million annually for the Anacostia River cleanup, with the amount shrinking as more residents use their own bags.

Some money would be used to install screens on storm drains to collect garbage. An amendment also calls for D.C. to raise money for the cleanup effort by offering commemorative license plates to residents at a cost of $25.

In response to concerns the fees would place an unfair burden on the poor, the city plans to distribute reusable bags to low-income households.

As long as it is not done "maliciously, or to an excessive extent, or with resulting injury," Niagara County, NY Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza ruled that using a Taser to obtain a DNA sample is legally valid.

In the case of one Ryan S. Smith, accused of shooting and a gas station robbery:

Smith was handcuffed and sitting on the floor of Niagara Falls Police Headquarters when he was zapped with the 50,000- volt electronic stun gun after he insisted he would not give a DNA sample.

   He already had given a sample, a swab of the inside of his cheek, without protest the previous month. But police sent it to the wrong lab, where it was opened and spoiled. Prosecutors who had obtained a court order for the first sample went back to Sperrazza, who signed another order without consulting the defense.

To be fair, Sperrazza cited several precedents of her own to justify the ruling—including one case in Wyoming where it was deemed legal for the police to Taser a suspect to force him to open his hand for a search. The state's own Criminal Procedure Law also states that the use of reasonable force is legal to carry out a court order. Is refusing to give up a DNA sample on the same level as being violent? That is to say, should it be a Taserable offense?

It's officially not fun to be a kid anymore. Yesterday we reported that one teen faces a felony charge for egging a house. Now we have the unfortunate job of reporting that five students were arrested in a Wisconsin high school for starting and participating in a food fight. Where's the fun in being a stupid teen anymore?

As police carted the food-tossing students out of the school in handcuffs, they received a standing ovation from their peers. That's what we're talking about.

The students had planned the food fight as a fun end of school year prank. They brought a bunch of yogurts and had them all ready to fly.

More from WISCTV: "So on the count of three, we stood up, whipped it, (and) everyone started screaming, running," said Portage High School sophomore Dylan Mitchell.

Within seconds, yogurt and taco salad were flying across the cafeteria. "(I) threw my milk. I picked it up, spilt it all over me, threw it," Mitchell said.

Two minutes later police were making arrests. The students now have $172 tickets for disorderly conduct.

The principal defended the decision to call police:

Principal Karin Exo said she stands by her decision to call in police, adding that the scene was "chaotic" and her priority was to protect students from a so-called joke that could have turned violent.

Mitchell told WISCTV he had no regrets even though he knows someone could have been seriously hurt. Awesome:

"We walked out of school in handcuffs and got a standing ovation from everyone in the school. It was pretty sweet," he said. "I think it was totally worth it."

BRONX, N.Y. (WPIX) - A Bronx teenager is accused of burning a kitten to death in an oven, in what investigators believe was an act of revenge.

Humane Law Enforcement agents of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals say Cheyenne Cherry, 17, burned her ex-roommate's kitten to death in an oven. Following her arrest Wednesday, ASPCA agents say Cherry brushed off the incident as a joke.

Firefighters found the female cat's remains smoldering in the oven after neighbors complained of smoke coming from Hernandez's apartment.

If you're a "tactical knife enthusiast," then you'll take particular interest in a federal class-action lawsuit filed yesterday against Wal-Mart, Cabela's, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Dicks Sporting Goods and others retailers. Four folks, including one from Mesquite, are represented by Dallas attorney Allen Stewart, and in court documents they claim that the sporting goods stores are knowingly and illegally selling Kershaw's so-called "SpeedSafe® Knives," which "incorporat[e] torsion bar technology for assisted opening." In other words, they claim, they're "switchblade knives," the sale of which is prohibited by state law.

Says the suit, "Texas residents have been arrested, indicted and convicted for possessing" the knives –– and that the retailers know this but continue to sell them anyway. Which is why the plaintiffs want their money back for buying the knives and an injunction preventing any further sale in Texas. And, no, the suit doesn't say why the plaintiffs purchased the knives (in some cases, several) in the first place; I will update when Stewart returns a call placed to his office this morning. Incidentally, on its Web site, Kershaw insists the knives are not switchblades, because "unlike a switchblade, SpeedSafe blades DO NOT deploy with the push of a button in the handle or by gravity alone."

Cigarettes marketed as "light," "low" tar or "mild" will be banned within a year as part of a historic bill the Senate passed 79-17 on Thursday.

The legislation, approved by the House in April, is the most sweeping tobacco-control measure ever passed by Congress. It goes now to President Obama (former Illinois Senator), who has said he will sign it.

"It's long overdue," said Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

The bill will dramatically affect how tobacco is marketed as the bill's provisions are phased in:

• Immediately, tobacco makers can no longer make claims that their products pose fewer health risks.

• Within three months, candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes are banned, and the FDA can extend that ban to cigars and moist snuff, where such flavorings are more common. Menthol is exempt.

• Within nine months, the FDA must publish marketing restrictions that will take effect six months later.

• Within 12 months, new warning labels will be placed on smokeless tobacco products.

• Within 15 months, tobacco companies must disclose the ingredients in their products.

• Within two years, the FDA must issue rules on graphic warrnings for cigarettes that will cover half the pack. The labels will take effect 15 months later.

Family advocates are outraged by a prom held at Boston City Hall that was open to children apparently as young as 12 featuring crossdressers, homosexual heavy petting, suspected drug use and a leather-clad doorman who teaches sexual bondage classes.

Children from middle schools and high schools across Massachusetts on May 9 attended a Youth Pride Day event ending with a prom inside of Boston City Hall sponsored by the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Youth, or BAGLY, a group seated on the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino issued a proclamation welcoming homosexual and transgender youth to the celebration. A man in drag introduced a homosexual activist from Menino's office to read the letter. A video of that proclamation is below.

Brian Camenker of MassResistance said Max was astonished by the number of children who appeared to be between 12 and 14 years old.

"They look pretty darn young," Camenker told WND. "He said there were a lot of middle school kids there. It really bothered him."

The day's events began with a transgender Elvis and a parade. Attendees were given condoms and pro-homosexual material such as a bookmark for kids on how to get involved with several homosexual groups and "Transgender Rights Now" stickers. Then many children attended the prom that evening at City Hall.

"I remained in the building for an hour and a half and found the events inside disturbing, depraved and outright criminal," Max reported. "The line included kids wearing the rainbow regalia of the gay movement, teenage boys wearing dresses and high heels, hugging their 'boyfriends,' extremely young looking girls, not much older than 14 or 15, with 'Out and Proud' inscribed in rainbow letters on the front of their T-shirts."

Max continued, "On the flower pots and stairs leading up to the subway entrance, I saw dozens of kids aged 12-17 smoking cigarettes and making out with each other."

TAMPA — No one wanted John Holland Jr. to go to prison.

Neither his parents nor relatives of a man the Alonzo High School student killed.

But Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Sleet said community service and speaking to students about the tragedy wasn't enough.

A deadly collision occurred when he lost control of his father's sports car while driving nearly 40 mph over the speed limit, and that clearly weighed upon the judge's mind.

On Monday, he sentenced Holland, 18, to six months in the county jail, followed by a year and a half of community control that includes an 11 p.m. curfew, and four years probation.

"You need to be punished, sir," Sleet told Holland, who completed his junior year less than two weeks ago. "You snuffed out somebody's life speeding."

Prosecutors said Holland was traveling 69 mph in a 30 mph zone when he lost control of his father's 2005 Nissan 305Z, crossed the center line on Countryway Boulevard near Woodbay Drive in Westchase and slammed into Baughman, who was riding a moped.

TAMPA — A man was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison for wounding a police officer during a 2005 shoot-out.

A Hillsborough County jury convicted Eugene Jermaine Betts this week of attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery with a firearm and two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter.

Betts, 26, shot a Tampa officer in the ankle when police tried to arrest him on a car theft warrant.

A Maine high school senior was denied his diploma at graduation after he took a bow when his name was called, pointed to friends and blew a kiss to his family.

Justin Denney was graduating from Bonny Eagle High School June 12 and had gotten up on stage to receive his diploma when he gestured to his friends and relatives.

School Superintendent Suzanne Lukas abruptly told Denney to return to his seat, according to WMTW TV in Maine. He didn't get his diploma.

His mother, Mary Denney, is livid. Her son told her that the superintendent warned, "There's no fooling around up here."

"He just kind of looked at her because he wasn't fooling around. He didn't consider that fooling around or misbehaving in any sense of the word," Mary Denney told WMTW.

Lukas reportedly asked the soon-to-be graduate why he thought he deserved a diploma.

"He goes, 'Because I worked hard and I earned it,' and she goes, 'No, go take your seat,'" his mother told the station.

Other students also walked away empty-handed because of various disruptions during the ceremony. Some started playing with beach balls and others were separated from their friends, according to WMTW.

Mary Denney doesn't believe her son violated any code of conduct.

"There was no misbehavior. Showboating is not misbehavior," she told the station. "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior."

The angry mother said she wants Lukas to apologize to her son and present him with his diploma while he is in his cap and gown.

Hear video from Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk radio show of a conversation between a Shreveport man and Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover.

Robert Baillio was stopped by a police officer who, without a warrant or without probable cause, took a gun from his truck.

When Mr. Baillio called Mayor Glover for an explanation, he was told, more than once that ‘when you are stopped by a police officer, your rights are suspended’.

The Mayor owes an explanation for his remarks.

The city of Bozeman, with a population of 25,000 people in southwestern Montana, likely isn't one you heard of recently. However, it's in the news after a city job requirement has drawn heavy criticism over possible privacy issues.

An anonymous citizen who applied for a city job alerted local media that he or she had to provide log-in information and passwords for any and all social networking web sites they use while applying for a job with the city.

Along with the normal background check, criminal history, education and employment past, the following is written into the Bozeman city employment waiver statement:

"Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc."

The application also gives room for three different web sites, account names and passwords, according to the applicant.

There are obvious privacy concerns related to what the city is attempting to do here, regardless of whether or not an applicant has something possibly incriminating posted on a social networking web site. Ya' think?

In Article 2, Section 10 of the Montana Constitution, it says "the right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest."

"So, we have positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here," Bozeman city attorney Greg Sullivan told local media.  "So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City."

It's possible Bozeman may create an official Facebook page where they have the ability to view an applicant's profile without the ability of looking at that persons friends through the site.

City officials say no applicants elected to refuse to turn over social networking information and end their application process.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Friday impeached a federal judge imprisoned for lying about sexual assaults of two women, in the first such vote since impeaching former President Bill Clinton a decade ago.

The impeachment of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Texas sets up a trial in the Senate. Kent is the first federal judge impeached in 20 years.

The House approved four articles of impeachment against Kent accusing him of sexually assaulting two female employees and lying to judicial investigators and Justice Department officials. All four articles passed unanimously.

"The conduct at issue here is both shocking and shameful," Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said at the start of the debate.

Kent, 59, entered a federal prison in Massachusetts on Monday to serve a 33-month sentence. He pleaded guilty last month to lying to judicial investigators about sexual assaults of two female employees.

Kent is refusing to resign until next year so he can continue to draw his $174,000 a year salary. If he is convicted of the impeachment charges in the Senate, he will be forced off the bench.

Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said he was not unsympathetic to Kent, who has said he has suffered depression since his first wife's death and had problems with alcohol abuse. But Smith said Kent does not have the right to continue as a federal judge and collect his salary.

"It is now time for justice: justice for the American people who have been exploited by a judge who violated his oath of office," Smith said.

As part of his plea bargain, Kent admitted that he tried to force Cathy McBroom, his former case manager, into unwanted sex acts in 2003 and 2007, and did the same with Donna Wilkerson, his secretary, from 2004 through at least 2005.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A man in Oklahoma City said he was attacked for his bologna and cheese sandwich. Police say 24-year-old Roger Hamilton told them he was sitting on a bus station bench Wednesday, about to put mayonnaise on his sandwich, when another man began staring at him.

Hamilton told police that the man then punched him in the mouth and grabbed his sandwich and left.

Police said Hamilton has a swollen lip and his face was covered in blood. The police report listed the value of the sandwich at 76 cents.

Police have not found the attacker.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Washington County's "Bunny Lady" is back in the hutch after violating a court order banning her from owning animals for five years. Miriam Sakewitz, 47, was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in the Portland suburb of Tigard after an employee reported finding rabbits hopping around in her room.

Problems for Sakewitz started in October 2006 when police in Hillsboro, about 15 miles west of Portland, found and confiscated nearly 250 rabbits in her home, including about 100 dead ones in freezers and refrigerators.

Police said she broke into the facility where the survivors were being cared for in January 2007 and stole most of them back. Authorities found her a few days later in Chehalis, Wash., with eight live rabbits and two dead ones in her car. Another 130 rabbits were recovered at a nearby horse farm.

Sakewitz was sentenced in April 2007 to five years probation and was banned from owning or controlling animals. She also was told not to go within 100 yards of a rabbit.

Muskogee, Okla. (AP) ––

A 23-year-old woman is accused of getting friend to kill her Jack Russell terrier and skinning the puppy to make a belt out of its hide.

Krystal Lynn Lewis and Austin Michael Mullins, 26, were being held Friday in the Muskogee County jail on $25,000 bail each. They were charged with one felony count of cruelty to animals.

"We're talking about a 6- or 7-week-old defenseless puppy," said sheriff's deputy George Roberson. "That's pretty heinous and sadistic."

A Muskogee County judge ordered a mental competency hearing for both defendants.

Lewis wanted the puppy, named Poplin, killed because it was a gift from a female ex-lover with whom she doesn't get along, said Muskogee County sheriff's deputy George Roberson.

Roberson said Mullins shot the terrier 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol. Lewis skinned the animal at her apartment and nailed the hide to a board.

Pennsylvania DEP Accepting Applications for Nitrogen Tire Inflation Grants Through... - Auto News from June 17, 2009
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –– Encouraging motorists to check the pressure in their vehicles' tires on a frequent basis, DEP Secretary John Hanger today announced the opening of the Nitrogen Tire Inflation System Grant program.


"Tires inflated with nitrogen can produce short- and long-term benefits through better fuel efficiency and improved tire wear," said Hanger. "Over time, tires on all vehicles lose pressure. Tests show tires inflated with nitrogen maintain their pressure up to four times longer than tires inflated with air alone. Under-inflation causes a decrease in fuel mileage due to more surface contact and friction which forces the engine to run harder and burn more fuel."

Nitrogen inflation can also improve tire wear. Nitrogen is an inert gas and is less reactive than oxygen with rubber inner liners and metal wheels. Nitrogen also reduces a tire's moisture content which results in cooler operating temperatures. That combination can improve a vehicle's handling ability and reduce the possibility of blowouts.

Automotive service providers who sell tires in Pennsylvania can apply to be reimbursed for a portion of their cost to purchase tire inflation systems that deliver at least 95 percent nitrogen according to manufacturer specifications. Eligible applicants with a 50 percent match of the total cost may request up to $5,000 for systems purchased and installed after July 1, 2008. A total of $100,000 is available for grants in each of the next three years.

A woman pleaded no contest last week to prostitution charges, accused of agreeing to be paid for services with a box of chips by a man who said he was a Frito-Lay employee.

Summary of Events

The case surrounding the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial centers around whether or not a privately-erected cross on federal land established to honor fallen soldiers from all wars is unconstitutional on grounds of violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The seven-foot-tall cross was erected in 1934 in the 1.6 million acre Mojave Desert Preserve by a number of World War I veterans to honor the nation’s war dead as other hurting veterans gathered in the desert to heal from the War. Riley Bembry, one of the veterans who erected the memorial, cared for the cross until 1984, when he asked his dear friend, Henry Sandoz, to make sure that someone took care of the memorial after he was gone. Since then, Sandoz has cared for the memorial by repairing it from vandalism and securing it to the rock beneath.

In 2001, Frank Buono, a former National Park Services (NPS) employee who lives in Oregon, joined the ACLU to file suit for removal of the memorial claiming it was an Establishment Clause violation. The District Court sided with the ACLU in July 2002 and ruled that it must be removed.

Later in 2002, Congress passed legislation designating the memorial and surrounding property as a “national memorial commemorating United States participation in World War I and honoring American veterans of that war.” They also passed a bill ordering the NPS to transfer the one acre upon which the memorial sits to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in exchange for five acres elsewhere in the Mojave Desert Preserve, donated by Sandoz.

Upon appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the District Court and ordered the removal of the memorial, which the District Court enforced in 2005. Following the District Court’s enforcement of the injunction against the memorial, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Congress’ motion to transfer the memorial and landland would not take away the Establishment Clause violation and that the memorial must be torn down.

Veterans’ Memorials at Risk: Would They Really Tear It Down?

As a result of the courts’ ruling, the memorial is now covered with a plywood box. Attempts have been made to hew down the cross, but the memorial’s construction is such that it has not been accomplished yet.

However, if the Ninth Circuit’s ruling stands, this veterans’ memorial cross will be destroyed, and hundreds, if not thousands, of monuments built to honor our veterans will be threatened. The precedent set by the Ninth Circuit endangers not only crosses, but also veterans’ memorials with any religious imagery. If even one veterans’ memorial is removed, the impact upon veterans, current service members, and future generations, would be tremendous. Not only would we dishonor our veterans, we would dishonor the families of those who proudly sacrificed themselves to preserve the rights of Americans.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. –– A 20-year-old man has been arrested for misusing 911 after asking police to escort him to a concert in Miami.

Deputies say Michael Kruse of Jacksonville initially called 911 because he felt sick on June 21.

The call went into the 911 call center in St. Johns County.

Kruse's speech was slurred and the dispatcher had difficulty understanding him.

Dispatch: "Are you sure you haven't taken something sir? Because you're not making a whole lot of sense."

Caller: "I've been smoking marijuana."

Dispatch: "You've been smoking marijuana?"

Caller: "Yes."

Dispatch: "Do you want a deputy to come and take you to jail?"

Caller: "Why?"

Dispatch: "You just told me on a taped line you just got done smoking marijuana."

Caller: "Awww. Are you serious?"

Sgt. Chuck Mulligan, spokesman with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said deputies located Kruse, took him to a family member, and gave him a stern lecture about 911.

Hours later on June 22, Kruse called 911 again. This time he was driving on I-95. He told the dispatcher he wanted a police escort to see the rapper, Lil Wayne, in concert in Miami.

Dispatch: "You want a police escort to take you to Miami?"

Caller: "Or, you have a helicopter?"

Dispatch: "We don't just send helicopters up for rappers."

Caller: "Well, I'm driving there right now. I just wanted the fastest way to get there. I didn't want to get pulled over on the highway."

The dispatcher had Kruse pull off the interstate and deputies arrested him for misuse of 911.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities said a man using the drive-through at a Tallahassee bank deposited $200 and a small bag containing marijuana and cocaine. Police said an employee at the Wachovia Bank called police Wednesday after the unusual deposit. An officer arrested a 38-year-old man and found the remnants of three marijuana cigarettes inside his vehicle.

The man was charged with drug possession and later released on $3,000 bail.

It's not clear why the man included the drugs with his deposit.

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. – Authorities said a couple got into a fight using Cheetos. The Bedford County Sheriff's Department said a 40-year-old man and 44-year-old woman became involved in a 'verbal altercation.' Somehow, the orange puffy snacks were used in the assault.

Deputies said they were charged with domestic assault. No one was hurt.

According to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, both posted bond of $2,500.

As I alluded to a few days ago, I plan to do my own little “tribute” to a deceased military puke by the name of Brad Iorio, 19, from Galloway Township, New Jersey. A graduate of Absegami High School in the township. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a graduate of Oakcrest High School in Mays Landing, which is part of the same school district.

I said that I was going to piss on Iorio’s grave at the Germania Cemetery, which is located at Moss Mill Road and Vienna Avenue in Galloway Township. I have gotten several e-mail messages and phone calls asking if I am serious about this. The answer is yes. Yes, I am serious. Given that I spat upon the grave of William Toland, who is buried in the Atlantic County Veteran’s Cemetery in Estell Manor, I know what I am saying, and doing.

In the interest of keeping certain parties that may seek to prevent this from happening at bay, I will not announce the exact date until closer to the event. What I will say is that it will be a symbolic date, and it will be covered on this blog.

I do not for one moment think that pissing on his grave is a bad thing. I think that it is a “tribute” to the scumbag, and more importantly, it is payback for the taxes he abused, and for the payout that his family will get, at our expense.

If anyone has a problem with this, feel free to contact me, but know that I will not be vandalizing anything, and I will not be causing damage. After all, I’d only be watering the grass.

July 8, 2009
The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, is offering $1,000 to anybody who anonymously provides information on “illegal guns” in the city. In a video on posted on the City of Newark web page, the “Honorable” Cory A. Booker declares guns on the streets are unacceptable and he is offering the cash incentive to snitches.

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel issued the following statement following the U.S. Department of Justice’s denial of preclearance of Georgia’s voter verification process

Atlanta - “The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny preclearance of Georgia’s already implemented citizenship verification process shows a shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections. With this decision, DOJ has now barred Georgia from continuing the citizenship verification program that DOJ lawyers helped to craft. DOJ’s decision also nullifies the orders of two federal courts directing Georgia to implement the procedure for the 2008 general election. The decision comes seven months after Georgia requested an expedited review of the preclearance submission.

“DOJ has thrown open the door for activist organizations such as ACORN to register non-citizens to vote in Georgia’s elections, and the state has no ability to verify an applicant’s citizenship status or whether the individual even exists. DOJ completely disregarded Georgia’s obvious and direct interest in preventing non-citizens from voting, instead siding with the ACLU and MALDEF. Clearly, politics took priority over common sense and good public policy.

“This process is critical to protecting the integrity of our elections. We have evidence that non-citizens have voted in past Georgia elections and that more than 2,100 individuals have attempted to register, yet still have questions regarding their citizenship. Further, the Inspector General’s office is investigating more than 30 cases of non-citizens casting ballots in Georgia elections, including the case of a Henry County non-citizen who registered to vote and cast ballots in 2004 and 2006.

“It is important to underscore that not a single person has come forward to say he or she could not vote because of the verification process. Further, while DOJ argues that the process is somehow discriminatory, the historic voter turnout among Hispanic and African-American voters in the 2008 general elections clearly says otherwise.

“This decision provides a specific example of the inherently illogical and unfair nature of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. It is a sad day for the rights of our state and for the integrity of our elections. I remain committed to continuing the fight for citizenship verification. In the coming days, I will consider every option available to the state, including the possibility of legal action.”

PROVIDENCE –– Rhode Island teens under 18 can’t work with power saws or bang nails up on roofs.

But dance at strip clubs? Sure. Just as long as the teens submit work permits, and are off the stripper’s pole by 11:30 on school nights.

It’s enough to surprise even those in America’s mecca of striptease and sin –– Las Vegas.

“Everybody buzzes about ‘Nevada and Sin City, tsk, tsk,’ ” said Edie Cartwright, spokeswoman for the Nevada attorney general’s office. “But we regulate it.”

Providence police recently discovered that teen job opportunities extend into the local adult entertainment world while they were investigating a 16-year-old runaway from Boston. The girl told detectives that she worked at Cheaters strip club this spring, and the police got tips about other underage girls working at another club on Allens Avenue.

That’s when the police found that neither state law, nor city ordinance bars minors from working at strip clubs. Those under 18 can’t buy pornography, and no one may take pictures or film minors in sexually suggestive ways. But the law doesn’t stop underage teens from stripping for money. Even if the police saw underage boys or girls on stage at a strip club, they wouldn’t be able to charge them or the club owners with a crime.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” said youth services Sgt. Carl Weston, “and I can’t find anything that says it’s illegal for a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old to take her top off and dance.”

State law says that anyone who employs a person under 18 for prostitution or for “any other lewd or indecent act” faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. But that isn’t enough to prevent underage girls from working in strip clubs, said senior assistant city solicitor Kevin McHugh, who researched the issue a dozen years ago when a teenage dancer was found at a raided strip club.

The term “lewd or indecent” is subjective, McHugh said, and is applied to behavior that’s protected by the First Amendment. “Since we have strip clubs in Providence,” McHugh said, “citizens don’t consider [stripping] lewd.”

With the age of consent at 16 in Rhode Island, the police worry that teenage strippers could take their business to the next level and offer sexual favors –– and it wouldn’t be illegal. State law currently allows indoor prostitution, and two bills intended to ban it have stalled in the General Assembly.

State and federal child labor laws dictate the number of hours and times of days that minors may work, and forbid certain jobs considered to be hazardous. For example, those under 16 can’t work on ladders or pump gas. Youths age 16 and 17 can’t work in manufacturing or excavation.

“Nowhere does it say anything about a kid not being able to strip,” Weston said.

Establishments with city liquor licenses need to keep the teenagers from the booze, but not the stage. “You can’t serve alcohol if you’re under 18,” Weston said, “but you can be the target of a man’s groping hands at age 16.”

But a Rhode Island teen stripper won’t find work in Massachusetts, where state law prohibits anyone from hiring minors under 18 for live performances involving sexual conduct.

Other states have had mixed encounters with the issue.

After a 12-year-old girl was found dancing nude in a club in Dallas last year, the city council swiftly passed rules barring minors from strip clubs and automatically revokes for a year licenses for sex businesses caught employing or entertaining minors.

But an Iowa county judge ruled last year that a striptease by a 17-year-old girl at a strip club was artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. The state attorney general’s office has asked the state Supreme Court to review the ruling.

Nevada, meanwhile, doesn’t let anyone under 18 work in casinos or in public dance halls where there is alcohol — and there are no strip clubs in Nevada without one or the other, or both, said Cartwright, of the attorney general’s office. Minors aren’t even allowed to deliver mail to brothels.

When questioned about Rhode Island’s law, Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, offered a copy of the current state law but did not comment for this article.

But Weston, of the Providence police, was adamant that the law should be changed.

“It leads to a societal breakdown,” he said. “These are just little girls.”