Society's ChildS


Handcuffs

Maine Zumba teacher pleads guilty to prostitution

David Sharp
Boston Globe
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:05 UTC
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© JOHN EWING/PORTLAND PRESS HERALD VIA ASSOCIATED PRESSProsecutors say they will recommend a jail term of 10 months after Alexis Wright (right) pleaded guilty to 20 counts of prostitution, conspiracy, and tax evasion.
A dance instructor accused of using her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution pleaded guilty Friday to 20 counts in a scandal that captivated a quiet seaside town.

The agreement that followed a second day of plea negotiations on Friday spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism, and pornography. Prosecutors will recommend a jail sentence of 10 months when she is sentenced on May 31.

Wright quietly answered ''guilty'' 20 times when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion, and theft by deception.

''We're very satisfied with it. It's an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions,'' Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.

Wright, 30, was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr. to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $150,000 over an 18-month period. She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients' knowledge.
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X

Clean up begins for Mayflower, Arkansas Oil Spill

Amy Hancock
KTHV
Sat, 30 Mar 2013 07:56 UTC

It was a rough start to the Easter holiday weekend after an oil spill struck in Mayflower. Authorities said as many as 40 homes had to be evacuated Friday afternoon.

Mayflower Police Chief Robert Satkowski said that the evacuations will remain in effect over-night. The chief also stated that it's too early to say how much oil spilled, but crews have prevented it from getting into Lake Conway. That was a big concern all day; the work ahead will focus on clean-up around the affected areas in town.

"So that is a pipeline that has busted and has flooded the neighborhood," said THViewer Drew Barnes, who gave THV 11 video of the Northwoods subdivision in Mayflower Friday.

Authorities said it's a mess triggered by an Exxon Mobile crude oil pipeline that ruptured, spewing out oil Friday afternoon.

"The smell is unbelievable. I mean, look!" Barnes said as he shot the video of his neighborhood.
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Document

France: Plan for more university lessons in English


The Connexion
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00 UTC
flags
© Unknown
A PROPOSED law change that would make it easier for universities to provide lessons in English has provoked anger from defenders of the French language.

The amendment to the Code de l'Education, which was discussed by ministers on the Journée Internationale de la Francophonie, would lift some of the restrictions on the language in which classes are held.

Supporters say this would make France a more attractive destination for bright foreign students, offering competition to established British and American campuses.

The rules currently state that the default language is French and that only a few exemptions can apply - such as teaching a foreign language, or lessons given by visiting foreign lecturers.

Three French authors - Frédéric Werst, Eugène Green and Olivier Rolin - are leading the campaign for the current rules to remain in place.

Werst describes the proposed change as "insulting" and "anti-Republican" because of goes to the heart of the constitutional principle of French being the language of France.
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Eiffel Tower

Chinese tourists 'afraid' of attacks in Paris


The connexion
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:49 UTC
paris
© Unknown
Chinese tourism officials have asked French authorities to do more to protect their citizens - after an attack on a group of Chinese tourists visiting Paris last week.

Some 23 tourists lost their passports and €7,500 in cash when they were attacked by three men while leaving a restaurant at Le Bourget, in the Seine-Saint-Denis.

Chinese tourism in Paris is up 15% in the past year - with more than half a million people from China visiting the city in 2012.

The group had just arrived in Paris for the first stage in a 12-day tour of European capital cities.

News of the attack reached the Chinese media via the embassy, prompting the state-backed Chinese Tourism Association to complain to their counterparts in Paris.

A spokeswoman for Chine Tourisme, which organises French holidays for Chinese tourists, told Le Parisien: "We're hearing about attacks on the Chinese more and more often."
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People

400 'Cannabis clubs' register in France


The connexion
Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00 UTC
THE first of an estimated 400 "cannabis social clubs" in France have formally registered their existence.

Fifteen clubs have lodged declarations at their local préfecture, registering as a not-for-profit association.

The clubs bring together growers and consumers of cannabis, who share their produce but do not sell it. They are considered illegal in France, but legally recognised in neighbouring Spain and Belgium.

A notice advising of the formal creation of the French Federation of Cannabis Social Clubs appeared in the Journal Officiel earlier this week.

Local branches have been declared in the Loire-Atlantique, Vendée, Creuse, Charente-Maritime, Indre-et-Loire and Haute-Vienne.
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Smoking

France: Bid to ban parents smoking in car


The connexion
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00 UTC
Cigarette
© Unknown
A LAW has been proposed that would ban parents from smoking in their cars when children are present.

Anti-smoking groups are keen to see the issue of passive smoking in cars debated in parliament, after successfully lobbying for a smoking ban in enclosed public places in 2006.

Socialist senator Yannick Vaugrenard is leading the initiative and has asked the health minister in the National Assembly to take up the cause.

A recent study in the scientific publication Tobacco Control Journal found smoking in vehicles exposed passengers to toxin levels three times higher than the safe threshold set by the World Health Organisation.
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Handcuffs

Man charged with attempting to sell 42,000 pounds of stolen muenster cheese at New Jersey rest stop

Alexa Valiente
ABC News
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:53 UTC
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© New Jersey State Police
Veniamin Balika, 34, of Plainfield, Illinois, was accused of stealing 42,000 pounds of Muenster cheese from a Wisconsin cheese company. He was arrested at a Bergen County rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike on Monday, the result of a joint investigation with the Saddle Brook New Jersey Police Department and the New Jersey State Police.

"He was charged with receiving stolen property and fencing," New Jersey State Police Sergeant Adam Grossman told ABCNews.com. Balika allegedly attempted to sell the load of 1,135 cases of cheese at the rest area.

Kevin Everhart, 50, owner of Pasture Pride Cheese in Wisconsin, where the cheese was from, said he did not realize the cheese had been stolen. "He came in with the proper paperwork," Everhart told ABCNews.com. "He came in as if he was picking up a shipment."
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Bizarro Earth

Florida Sheriff's office distributes flyers with phone sex line number to victims of sexual assault

Shaun Chaiyabhat
clickorlando.com
Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:47 UTC
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© Shutterstock
Deputies in Lake County say a phone number written on a pamphlet given to domestic violence and sexual assault victims actually went to a sex hotline instead.

The victims' rights pamphlet handed out by deputies offers an 800 number that connects callers to a recorded message that says, "Welcome to America's hottest talk line. Ladies, to talk to interesting and exciting guys free, press 1 now. Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you."

"We're giving out wrong information and I sure don't want my victims calling a sex line," said Kelly Smallridge, the Executive Director for the Haven, a victim's advocacy group whose number was supposed to appear on the fliers.
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Bizarro Earth

Man accused of trying to kill coworker he was stalking by spiking her heels with acid

Yoko Wakatsuki and Jethro Mullen
CNN
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:43 UTC
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© Shutterstock
It's a case that could make you think twice before leaving your footwear unattended.

Japanese police say they have arrested a man over allegations he tried to kill a female colleague by putting hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive chemical, in her shoes.

The alleged attack, which police say took place in December, caused gangrene to develop in the toes of the woman's left foot.

To deal with the problem, doctors had to remove the tips of five of her toes, said Teyuaki Harano, deputy chief of police in Gotemba, the city less than 100 kilometers southwest of Tokyo where the suspect, Tatsujiro Fukazawa, was arrested Thursday.
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Bulb

Three lost girls use light-up shoes and cell phone to signal rescue helicopter

Alexa Valiente
ABC News
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:20 UTC
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Three little girls got lost in the Florida woods Monday night, and their quick thinking helped law enforcement find them.

Two sisters, Grace Shaffer, 6, and Aubrey Shaffer, 9, and their 13-year-old neighbor wandered into a densely wooded area about two miles from their homes in Lakeland, Fla., early Monday evening hoping to see horses.

"They have boundaries set in the front yard," Missi Shaffer, Grace and Aubrey's mother, told ABCNews.com. "They usually stay within those boundaries. We've never had a problem with them wandering off."

The three girls had passed through a barbed-wire fence into a prohibited area on the way to a nearby horse trail.

"As night began to fall, they got disoriented," Donna Wood, Polk County Sheriff's Office public information officer, told ABCNews.com. "They were pretty far into the area and got lost."
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