Police Say Mother Microwaved Her Baby
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 4:21 PM EST
The Associated Press
By JAMES HANNAH
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) A mother was arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn daughter by microwaving the baby in an oven. China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital. Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.
"We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death," said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.
He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley.
Arnold was arrested soon after the baby's death in August 2005, then was released while authorities investigated further. Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."
The death was ruled homicide by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The absence of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water or a heating pad as the cause, Betz said.
Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child's death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved.
"China as a mother and a person was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.
The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said. The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.
Arnold has three other children.
In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999. Experts said that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iceberg Spotted From New Zealand Shore
Friday, November 17, 2006 7:37 PM EST
The Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) An iceberg has been spotted from the New Zealand shore for the first time in 75 years, one of about 100 that have been drifting south of the country.
The giant ice chunk was visible Thursday from Dunedin on South Island but has since moved away, driven by winds and ocean currents. The flotilla of icebergs some as big as houses were first spotted south of New Zealand early this month.
Last year, icebergs were seen in the country's waters for the first time in 56 years. But the last time one was visible from the New Zealand shore was June 1931, said Mike Williams, an oceanographer at the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research.
Scientists have been reluctant to blame global warming.
"We've been monitoring these things for such a short time, it's impossible to see. To say this is unusual and related to global warming is just not possible," Paul Augustinus, an Auckland University glacial geomorphology lecturer, told the New Zealand Herald earlier this month.
"It's a fairly frequent occurrence; it's just unusual for such large bergs to get so far north," he added.
Williams has said winds from a series of southern storms probably had driven some of the icebergs close to South Island. He said they were surviving longer than expected and taking a different route than expected.
Scientists were trying to pinpoint where the icebergs broke off from the Antarctic ice shelf.
Williams said a sample was taken from one of the iceberg when a helicopter landed on it several days ago and was sent for analysis to Victoria University in Wellington.
Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett said the icebergs were not being actively monitored because "they pose no imminent danger to shipping."
The icebergs have become a tourist attraction, with sightseers paying more than $300 each to fly over them.
Graeme Gale, the managing director of a company that flies tourists over the icebergs said they were impressive no matter how many times he sees them.
"It won't last forever but it's pretty unique," he said.
__________________________________________________
Deer's Head Gets Stuck in Fake Pumpkin
Friday, November 10, 2006 3:03 AM EST
The Associated Press
By JAMES PRICHARD
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small, immature deer that calls a gated community home.
The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least several days. It hangs there like an orange-and-black feed bag from its thin handle, which appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds.
Ironically, the container that resembles a feed bag and is intended to hold children's treats is instead keeping the animal from eating. It also looks as if the plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from drinking.
Animal experts who went Thursday to the neighborhood in Kent County's Cascade Township to assess the situation not only saw the deer but got to within 35 to 40 yards of him, said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo in nearby Grand Rapids.
Zoo personnel, as well as other animal experts, planned to return to the site Friday. If they see the deer, they hope to safely shoot a tranquilizer dart into him, remove the plastic jack-o'-lantern after the buck becomes unconscious, and then take the animal somewhere to recover until he can be released back into the wild.
Although Vescolani and the others got a good look at the buck, which has been spotted in a herd of several deer, they could not get close enough to make a good assessment of his physical condition. Still, the bucket was not impairing the animal's vision, and the deer looked strong, he said.
"He seems to be doing pretty well," Vescolani said. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."
Anesthetizing the buck and taking him away carries some degree of risk, Vescolani said, but the creature surely will die of starvation or dehydration unless the plastic pumpkin is removed from his head.
The bucket also would make it much easier for hunters to see the animal when the state's deer firearm season begins Wednesday.
Deb Larson, who lives in the wooded, semi-rural gated neighborhood that the buck frequents, said she appreciates the effort to save the animal being made by the zoo, the Humane Society of Kent County and the Grand Rapids-based Wildlife Rehab Center Ltd., a nonprofit group that helps to rehabilitate abandoned and injured wildlife.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has provided them with guidance and other assistance.
"I'm very thankful that they are going to try and get him," Larson said.
Vescolani said he and the others will do their best to save the deer.
"There are a lot of folks trying to do the right thing, and hopefully we'll get the right results that'll be the best for the animal," he said. "That's what we all want."
____________________________________________________________
Tree Limbs Form Cross on Jesus Statue
Thursday, October 19, 2006 5:46 PM EDT
The Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Last week's snowstorm in Buffalo brought down countless tree limbs, causing widespread damage to homes and other property. But two large limbs that fell on a statue of Jesus Christ landed in such a way that they formed a cross.
The statue is located behind a former Catholic school in Buffalo.
After the worst of the storm subsided last Friday, neighbor Georgianna Verrastro says she looked out the window and was amazed at what she saw.
Two tree limbs had landed on the right shoulder of the statue, which depicts Jesus with his arms upraised. The limbs caused only minor damage, knocking off the fingers on the statue's right hand.
Video shows the branches leaning against the statue in such a way that it appears Jesus is carrying a wooden cross.
Verrastro told a TV station that her home didn't suffer any damage or lose power during the storm, and she believes the nearby Jesus statue is proof that a higher power was watching over her family last week.
it's a miracle!!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 4:21 PM EST
The Associated Press
By JAMES HANNAH
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) A mother was arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn daughter by microwaving the baby in an oven. China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital. Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.
"We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death," said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.
He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley.
Arnold was arrested soon after the baby's death in August 2005, then was released while authorities investigated further. Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."
The death was ruled homicide by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The absence of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water or a heating pad as the cause, Betz said.
Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child's death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved.
"China as a mother and a person was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.
The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said. The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.
Arnold has three other children.
In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999. Experts said that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iceberg Spotted From New Zealand Shore
Friday, November 17, 2006 7:37 PM EST
The Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) An iceberg has been spotted from the New Zealand shore for the first time in 75 years, one of about 100 that have been drifting south of the country.
The giant ice chunk was visible Thursday from Dunedin on South Island but has since moved away, driven by winds and ocean currents. The flotilla of icebergs some as big as houses were first spotted south of New Zealand early this month.
Last year, icebergs were seen in the country's waters for the first time in 56 years. But the last time one was visible from the New Zealand shore was June 1931, said Mike Williams, an oceanographer at the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research.
Scientists have been reluctant to blame global warming.
"We've been monitoring these things for such a short time, it's impossible to see. To say this is unusual and related to global warming is just not possible," Paul Augustinus, an Auckland University glacial geomorphology lecturer, told the New Zealand Herald earlier this month.
"It's a fairly frequent occurrence; it's just unusual for such large bergs to get so far north," he added.
Williams has said winds from a series of southern storms probably had driven some of the icebergs close to South Island. He said they were surviving longer than expected and taking a different route than expected.
Scientists were trying to pinpoint where the icebergs broke off from the Antarctic ice shelf.
Williams said a sample was taken from one of the iceberg when a helicopter landed on it several days ago and was sent for analysis to Victoria University in Wellington.
Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett said the icebergs were not being actively monitored because "they pose no imminent danger to shipping."
The icebergs have become a tourist attraction, with sightseers paying more than $300 each to fly over them.
Graeme Gale, the managing director of a company that flies tourists over the icebergs said they were impressive no matter how many times he sees them.
"It won't last forever but it's pretty unique," he said.
__________________________________________________
Deer's Head Gets Stuck in Fake Pumpkin
Friday, November 10, 2006 3:03 AM EST
The Associated Press
By JAMES PRICHARD
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small, immature deer that calls a gated community home.
The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least several days. It hangs there like an orange-and-black feed bag from its thin handle, which appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds.
Ironically, the container that resembles a feed bag and is intended to hold children's treats is instead keeping the animal from eating. It also looks as if the plastic pumpkin prevents the deer from drinking.
Animal experts who went Thursday to the neighborhood in Kent County's Cascade Township to assess the situation not only saw the deer but got to within 35 to 40 yards of him, said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo in nearby Grand Rapids.
Zoo personnel, as well as other animal experts, planned to return to the site Friday. If they see the deer, they hope to safely shoot a tranquilizer dart into him, remove the plastic jack-o'-lantern after the buck becomes unconscious, and then take the animal somewhere to recover until he can be released back into the wild.
Although Vescolani and the others got a good look at the buck, which has been spotted in a herd of several deer, they could not get close enough to make a good assessment of his physical condition. Still, the bucket was not impairing the animal's vision, and the deer looked strong, he said.
"He seems to be doing pretty well," Vescolani said. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."
Anesthetizing the buck and taking him away carries some degree of risk, Vescolani said, but the creature surely will die of starvation or dehydration unless the plastic pumpkin is removed from his head.
The bucket also would make it much easier for hunters to see the animal when the state's deer firearm season begins Wednesday.
Deb Larson, who lives in the wooded, semi-rural gated neighborhood that the buck frequents, said she appreciates the effort to save the animal being made by the zoo, the Humane Society of Kent County and the Grand Rapids-based Wildlife Rehab Center Ltd., a nonprofit group that helps to rehabilitate abandoned and injured wildlife.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has provided them with guidance and other assistance.
"I'm very thankful that they are going to try and get him," Larson said.
Vescolani said he and the others will do their best to save the deer.
"There are a lot of folks trying to do the right thing, and hopefully we'll get the right results that'll be the best for the animal," he said. "That's what we all want."
____________________________________________________________
Tree Limbs Form Cross on Jesus Statue
Thursday, October 19, 2006 5:46 PM EDT
The Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Last week's snowstorm in Buffalo brought down countless tree limbs, causing widespread damage to homes and other property. But two large limbs that fell on a statue of Jesus Christ landed in such a way that they formed a cross.
The statue is located behind a former Catholic school in Buffalo.
After the worst of the storm subsided last Friday, neighbor Georgianna Verrastro says she looked out the window and was amazed at what she saw.
Two tree limbs had landed on the right shoulder of the statue, which depicts Jesus with his arms upraised. The limbs caused only minor damage, knocking off the fingers on the statue's right hand.
Video shows the branches leaning against the statue in such a way that it appears Jesus is carrying a wooden cross.
Verrastro told a TV station that her home didn't suffer any damage or lose power during the storm, and she believes the nearby Jesus statue is proof that a higher power was watching over her family last week.
it's a miracle!!
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
nena:
Thanks for your comment on my last set! 
perdita:
thanks for the set comment!