Emeril To Send Fiesty Elderly Defender Saucepan Set

ELYRIA, Ohio, Feb. 27 (UPI) — TV chef Emeril Lagasse said he is sending a free cookware set to a 70-year-old Ohio woman whose pan was taken by police after she used it to fight burglars. Ellen Basinski, 70, said she was taking to her husband, Lorain County Family Court Judge David Basinski, on the phone Tuesday when the four young men — identified by police as Patrick Kostal, 18, and three juveniles ages 15, 16 and 17 — entered her Elyria home and began rifling through her purse, liquor cabinet and drawers, the (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram reported Friday. Basinski said she used her 5-quart Emeril Lagasse saucepan to hit one of the burglars before they fled with her wallet, which contained only $10. The suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated burglary, assault and theft. Lagasse told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he decided to send Basinski a new 10-piece set of nonstick cookware, which retails for about $199, after he heard that the woman’s saucepan had been admitted into evidence after she used it to fight the intruders. “I mean, it just blew my mind,” the famed chef said. “I mean, I feel terrible for her — not only about the situation she faced, but because she probably may not get that pan back. That’s not good, not good.”

Topless Cafe In Maine Isnt Winning Any Support

Source AP

VASSALBORO, Maine (AP) — Cup size has more than one meaning at a new central Maine coffeehouse.

Servers are topless at the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop, which opened its doors Monday on a busy road in Vassalboro. A sign outside says, “Over 18 only.” Another says, “No cameras, no touching, cash only.”

On Tuesday, two men sipped coffee at a booth while three topless waitresses and a bare-chested waiter stood nearby. Topless waitress Susie Wiley said men, women and couples have stopped by.

The coffee shop raised the ire of dozens of residents when it went before the town planning board last month. Town officials said the coffee shop met the letter of the law.

Thief In Central Maine Targets Old Telephone Poles

OAKLAND, Maine, Feb. 20, 2009

(AP) Old telephone poles are being swiped right out of the ground in central Maine.

According to FairPoint Communications, about 35 poles have been cut and stolen. The thefts in the town of Oakland began last fall and stopped in the early winter but have resumed as snowbanks have retreated.

The poles had no wires attached to them and were to be removed later. They had been trimmed to 12 feet tall, and were left behind when the company put in replacement poles next to them.

FairPoint supervisor Simon Thorne said the pressure-treated poles aren’t good for burning because they contain preservatives. He speculated someone might be taking them to use for framework.

Karma

Bill Would Legalize, Tax Marijuana In California

Posted by CN Staff on February 23, 2009 at 13:00:07 PT
By Jim Sanders
Source: Sacramento Bee

cannabis Sacramento, CA — California may be going to pot – literally. Marijuana would be grown and sold openly to adults 21 and older under legislation introduced this morning by a San Francisco lawmaker.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, said the cash-starved state could generate more than a billion dollars by taxing pot growers and sellers. Ammiano predicted that the public would support loosening marijuana laws that require substantial public funds to enforce.

“I think there’s a mentality throughout the state and the country that this isn’t the highest priority,” he said. “And that maybe we should start to reassess.”

Before California could legalize marijuana, however, it also might have to persuade the federal government to alter its prohibition on cannabis.

Ammiano said federal officials may be receptive to such changes under the administration of President Barack Obama.

“We may be on a parallel track here,” said Ammiano, a freshman legislator who was sworn into office less than three months ago.

The Drug Policy Alliance, an advocate of loosening pot laws, applauded Ammiano’s proposal.

“Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy,” said Stephen Gutwillig, the group’s California state director. “It’s a revenue opportunity we literally can’t afford to ignore any longer.”

Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, said legalizing marijuana would be a bad idea. He said he considers pot a “gateway drug” from which many users graduate to harder and more dangerous substances.

“I don’t think we’re particularly well served in our society to further accommodate or even encourage something that’s going to be unproductive and damaging to the individual — especially not for the reason of generating revenue,” he said.

Ammiano’s bill, Assembly Bill 390, would allow marijuana to be sold openly – like alcohol – in retail outlets statewide.

The state would gain by charging sellers a fee of $50 per ounce. Pot growers also would be charged under the measure.

Snipped

Complete Article: http://www.sacbee.com/breaking/story/1646399.html

Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Author: Jim Sanders
Published: February 23, 2009
Copyright: 2009 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/

Opposing The Drug Laws They Enforce

By JASON SCHREIBER
The Union Leader

When he’s working, Epping Police Officer Bradley Jardis is just like any other cop.

He’s patrolling the streets to catch people with drugs because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

But when he’s off the clock, this 28-year-old officer is speaking publicly about why he believes existing drug policies have failed and why it’s time for lawmakers to legalize drugs.

It’s an unusual position to take for a police officer charged with enforcing laws, but Jardis insists that prohibiting drugs leaves the dealers in control, creating a dangerous black market that breeds crime and gives kids easy access.

Jardis believes drugs should be regulated by the government just like alcohol. “We treat alcoholism as a public health problem, but we treat drug addiction as a criminal problem, and that’s wrong,” he said.

And he’s not the only officer who feels this way.

Full Story Can Be Found At….

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29325058/

Credit – Union Leader

An Orange Drama

Reposted from http://haha.nu/misc/an-orange-drama/

Kids In Trouble For ‘Happy Crack’, Mimicks Drug Culture

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Some parents in Independence have been warned by school officials to watch out for something called “Happy Crack.”

“Happy Crack” isn’t actually a drug; it is a mix of powdered Kool-Aid and sugar that kids carry around in plastic bags.

The principal at Glendale Elementary stated in a letter sent to parents that kids have been buying, selling, eating and snorting the mixture in behavior that “mimics a drug culture.”

A group of fifth-graders got in trouble for using it.

Full story here….http://www.kctv5.com/news/15908960/detail.html
Credit KCTV5.com.

Cannabis Found In Greek Nunnery

A GREEK Orthodox nunnery was turned into a marijuana plantation by two men posing as gardeners for elderly nuns, police said overnight.

Acting on a tip-off, officers raided the nunnery in the village of Filiro, near the northern port city of Thessaloniki, and found more than 30 large cannabis plants in the enclosed garden.

“Two unknown men had told the two elderly nuns in the nunnery they would like to help them with the garden and then proceeded to plant the cannabis,” a police official said.

“The nuns did not know what they were and assumed they were large decorative plants,” he said.

Police did not arrest the nuns and have launched a hunt for the culprits.

Source Australian News – http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22873165-23109,00.html

New York City Restaurant To Release 140 Year Old Lobster To Maine Waters

On Saturday the Halu Japanese Restaurant & Grill in Brooklyn will be releasing a very famous crustacean indeed. The PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) had been asked by the restaurant to return the lobster to its native Maine waters where it will be released into freedom. Peta has been campaigning to liberate restaurant lobsters and save them from being thrown alive in a pot of boiling water. According to invertebrate zoologist Jaren Horsley, lobsters have a “sophisticated nervous system” and feel “a great deal of pain” when cut or cooked alive.

I as a resident of Maine believe a 140 year old lobster would not taste good anyway. The PETA has been going overboard for a long time and this is no exception. To open the door to these arguments would be an open invitation to save cows, chickens or any other “meat”. Lobster is meant to be enjoyed and boiling them is the most humane way of killing. These people need to tend to their own lives and stop judging others.