Society's ChildS


House

Andre Barbosa squats legally in $2.5 million Florida estate

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One 23-year-old man seems very successful for his age, as he lives in a $2.5 million estate in Boca Raton, Florida.

But it's all a lie. Andre Barbosa is a squatter, who took residence at 580 Golden Harbour Drive in July. The twist is that he can't be kicked out of the house, as it is legal for him to live there, without owning or even renting it.

Barbosa, a Brazilian national, cannot be arrested because no one witnessed him breaking into the 7,522 square foot, five bedroom, six bathroom, waterfront home.

The bank who foreclosed the home, Bank of America, said there is a "certain legal process" they are required to follow by law and that they are "work[ing] diligently to resolve the matter."

Bizarro Earth

Jennifer Bigham, deemed insane for killing baby, is released from jail

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Jennifer Bigham was deemed insane after she drowned her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub. Now, three years later, she is able to walk free from jail after doctors determined she had regained her sanity.

Bigham, of Modesto, California, admitted to killing her daughter in 2010, but she was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

She was released from jail Tuesday after doctors declared her sane.

Sheriff

Sheriffs push back on gun laws

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© David Kasnic for The Wall Street JournalDenny Peyman is one of a group of sheriffs who say they won't enforce gun laws they deem unconstitutional.
A collection of sheriffs across the country have sent Congress and the Obama administration a message: If we don't like your gun laws, we aren't going to help enforce them.

As of Thursday, 90 sheriffs, many from rural counties, had pledged not to enforce laws they deem unconstitutional, according to a list compiled by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a Texas-based group that has "vowed to uphold and defend the Constitution against Obama's unlawful gun control measures."

A White House spokesman declined to comment.

The sheriffs began their campaign of letters and media interviews earlier this month, shortly after President Barack Obama signed 23 executive orders addressing gun violence, and outlined a broad framework of new gun-control measures for Congress to consider.

Cult

Boy Scouts threaten to kick out troop for supporting gay members

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© Prayitno, Flickr
The Boy Scouts council in charge of overseeing scout programs in the Washington, DC-area is threatening to kick out a Maryland troop for posting a statement on its website declaring it won't discriminate against gay scouts. The troop has to decide by tomorrow whether to remove the statement.

In September, the families of Pack 442, which is based in Cloverly, Maryland (a small town less than 20 miles from the nation's capital), anonymously voted and overwhelmingly approved to adopt a non-discrimination statement. According to Theresa Phillips, committee chair of Pack 442, the pack wanted Boy Scouts of America to know "we will not stand for the discrimination of homosexual minors or adults whatsoever." Here's the sentence causing the controversy:

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Ambulance

Detective shot dead during raid in Ireland

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© Photograph: Kim Haughton for the GuardianSinn Fein president Gerry Adams said he was deeply shocked by the detective's murder.
Four men fled after botched hold-up on a cash delivery to a credit union near Dundalk.

A detective has died after he was shot during a botched hold-up outside the town of Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland.

The Garda officer, who was in his 40s, was among colleagues who were escorting a cash delivery to a credit union in the County Louth town, which is close to the border with Northern Ireland.

Several shots were fired during the incident at the Lordship Credit Union in the Jenkinstown area at about 9.30pm on Friday.

The officer, who was based at Dundalk Garda station, was fatally injured in the shooting. He was named by Gardai as Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

Garda sources said that after shooting the detective the raiders seized the money stolen from the credit union and drove off. Four men who are believed to have fled the scene in a grey Volkswagen Passat are being sought by the force.

Extinguisher

10 killed, 14 injured in fire at Moscow underground parking lot

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© RIA Novosti/Igor Rustak
At least 10 people have died and 14 others were injured in a massive blaze at an underground parking lot in Moscow. Another 10 people were rescued.

The accident happened in a building under construction in south-east Moscow. All the victims are said to be workers at the construction site that turned out to be blocked underground when the parking lot caught fire. Four of them died on the way to hospital, Moscow police said.

Five people have sustained injuries and carbon monoxide poisoning, and been hospitalized, with three of them placed in intensive care.

Megaphone

At least 50 killed, 90 injured in Venezuela prison riot

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© AFP Photo / Dedwinson Alvarez-Diario el ImpulsoMembers of the National Guard take shelter before a riot in front of the prison Uribana, in Barquisimeto, Lara state, Venezuela, on January 25, 2013
At least 50 people are reported to have been killed and 90 more injured as inmates at a Venezuelan prison clashed with National Guard troops on Friday.

Most of those injured at the Uribana prison in Lara state suffered gunshot wounds, hospital official Ruy Medina told AFP. He stressed that the death toll was "alarming," saying it was based solely on bodies brought to the hospital.

Bizarro Earth

Chili powder and knives given to Mumbai women to fend off rapists

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© AFP Photo / Punit Paranjpe
The Shiv Sena party has distributed knives and chili powder to women in Mumbai to send a message to 'eve-teasers' after the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi last month, which has ignited a debate on India's appalling rise in sexual offenses.

The Shiv Sena party, an ally of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has distributed 21,000 knives with 3-inch (7 cm) blades to women in Mumbai and its surrounding areas and plans to hand out a total of 100,000.

"This is a symbolic gesture. Its only to pass a signal to eve-teasers, anti-social elements and perpetrators of crime against women that women are empowered and can take care of themselves," said Rahul Narvekar, a spokesman for the party. 'Eve teasing' is an Indian euphemism for molesting women.

"Don't be afraid of using this knife if someone attacks you. We have set up a team of nine advocates to protect you from any potential court cases that may arise." Ajay Chaudhari, who is running the knife campaign for Shiv Sena, was quoted as saying by the Party's newspaper, Saamana.

Syringe

Heroin's coming back in a big way - in affluent suburbs, small cities and rural towns

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© AFP Photo
For years, heroin was considered an affliction mainly of poor urban neighborhoods. But these days, the drug is becoming popular in affluent suburbs, small cities, and even rural towns - especially among young people.

From Arizona to New Jersey, many communities that never imagined they would have a heroin problem now face a rising toll of addiction, overdoses, and even deaths.

"You would have to go pretty remote to find a place that didn't have this," says Kathleen Kane-Willis, a researcher at Roosevelt University in Chicago who has tracked heroin use since 2004. "It's just everywhere."

But for communities and in particular parents, the problem can come as a total surprise.

Take Tamara Olt and her husband, who were vacationing in Mexico last April when they got the call that every parent dreads. One of their sons was lying unconscious in his basement room at the family's home in Dunlap, a small town in central Illinois.

Joshua Olt died in the emergency room that evening. He was 16.

Pistol

Minnesota man pointed AK-47 at daughter during argument over grades, charges say

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© Photo courtesy Ramsey County sheriff's officeKirill Bartashevitch
A St. Paul man pointed an AK-47 rifle at his teenage daughter in a dispute over her getting two B's instead of straight A's, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday, Jan 25.

The Ramsey County attorney's office charged Kirill Bartashevitch, 51, of St. Paul with two counts of terroristic threats, one against the girl and the other against her mother. Bartashevitch is a Minneapolis Public Schools employee. The complaint gives this account:

Police were called to a school on Jan. 17 after a school social worker received a report from a parent who said she'd been monitoring her son's electronic communications and saw a message to her son. In the message, Bartashevitch's daughter said her father had pointed a rifle at her.