Ronald MacDonald Charged in Wendy's Theft
MANCHESTER, N.H. Nov 28, 2005 —
You'd think that just working at a Wendy's restaurant would be difficult for Ronald MacDonald. Now, the 22-year-old MacDonald no relation to Ronald McDonald, the clown has been charged with stealing money from a safe at the Wendy's.
Police said the restaurant manager called police early Monday, saying he found MacDonald and another employee taking money from the safe at about 1:30 a.m.
MacDonald and Steve Lemay, 20, both of Manchester, were detained at the store until police arrived.
Teen With Peanut Allergy Dies After Kiss
SAGUENAY, Quebec (AP) - A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday.
Christina Desforges died in a Quebec hospital Wednesday after doctors were unable to treat her allergic reaction to the kiss the previous weekend.
Desforges, who lived in Saguenay, about 155 miles north of Quebec City, was almost immediately given a shot of adrenaline, a standard tool for treating the anaphylactic shock brought on by a peanut allergy, officials said.
An autopsy was being performed. Dr. Nina Verreault, an allergist at the Chicoutimi Hospital in Saguenay, declined to comment on the case.
The symptoms of peanut allergy can include hives, plunging blood pressure and swelling of the face and throat, which can block breathing.
Peanut allergies have been rising in recent decades. The reason remains unclear but one study found that baby creams or lotions with peanut oil may cause children to develop allergies later in life.
About 1.5 million Americans are severely allergic to even the smallest trace of peanuts and peanut allergies account for 50 to 100 deaths in the United States each year. Canadian figures were not immediately available
Jail For Sale On eBay
Huntsville, MO -- It's probably not meant for the traditional homeowner. Leaders in Randolph County, Missouri, are preparing to sell the county's old jail on the online auction site eBay. They plan to start the bidding at more than $32,000, with the auction to start as soon as Wednesday. The two-story structure is 95 years old. The jail doubled as home to the county sheriff and his family until 1989, with separate living quarters including a full kitchen and fireplace. Randolph County officials say they got the idea to sell the jail from their neighboring counterparts. Howard County has sold its jail for $42,000 to a Los Angeles lawyer, who plans to renovate it as a country getaway.
'I stole mail'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
U.S. Supreme Court' name on Monday allowed a California man to be sentenced to spend a day outside a San Francisco post office wearing a signboard stating, "I stole mail. This is my punishment."
The justices rejected an appeal by Shawn Gementera, who argued that this was designed to publicly shame and humiliate him. He said it violated the Sentencing Reform Act and the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Gementera pleaded guilty to mail theft after the police arrested him and an accomplice in 2001 for stealing letters from several mailboxes in San Francisco.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in 2003 sentenced Walker to two months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The conditions for his release required Gementera to spend four days at a post office observing patrons inquire about lost or stolen mail, to write letters of apology to the victims of his crime, to give three lectures at high schools about his crime and to wear the two-sided sign for one eight-hour day.
Gementera appealed the legality of the signboard requirement, but a U.S. appeals court panel, by a 2-1 vote, ruled against him in August.
The appeals court said the record in the case showed that the judge imposed the condition for the legitimate purpose of rehabilitation.
It said the judge could have imposed a lengthier prison term instead of the signboard condition, and added that crimes and the resulting penalties nearly always cause shame and embarrassment.
Gementera's attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court.
"The shaming condition amounted to nothing more than the piling on of an additional and quite gratuitous requirement -- designed to publicly humiliate (Gementera) -- in contravention of federal law," they said.
"Punishments aimed at imposing shame and humiliation are inconsistent with a constitutional requirement that punishments, even for heinous crimes, be consistent with human dignity," they said.
U.S. Justice Department attorneys said a sentence may serve a legitimate rehabilitative purpose, even if makes the defendant feel uncomfortable or embarrassed in public.
The high court turned down Gementera's appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
You'd think that just working at a Wendy's restaurant would be difficult for Ronald MacDonald. Now, the 22-year-old MacDonald no relation to Ronald McDonald, the clown has been charged with stealing money from a safe at the Wendy's.
Police said the restaurant manager called police early Monday, saying he found MacDonald and another employee taking money from the safe at about 1:30 a.m.
MacDonald and Steve Lemay, 20, both of Manchester, were detained at the store until police arrived.
Teen With Peanut Allergy Dies After Kiss
SAGUENAY, Quebec (AP) - A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday.
Christina Desforges died in a Quebec hospital Wednesday after doctors were unable to treat her allergic reaction to the kiss the previous weekend.
Desforges, who lived in Saguenay, about 155 miles north of Quebec City, was almost immediately given a shot of adrenaline, a standard tool for treating the anaphylactic shock brought on by a peanut allergy, officials said.
An autopsy was being performed. Dr. Nina Verreault, an allergist at the Chicoutimi Hospital in Saguenay, declined to comment on the case.
The symptoms of peanut allergy can include hives, plunging blood pressure and swelling of the face and throat, which can block breathing.
Peanut allergies have been rising in recent decades. The reason remains unclear but one study found that baby creams or lotions with peanut oil may cause children to develop allergies later in life.
About 1.5 million Americans are severely allergic to even the smallest trace of peanuts and peanut allergies account for 50 to 100 deaths in the United States each year. Canadian figures were not immediately available
Jail For Sale On eBay
Huntsville, MO -- It's probably not meant for the traditional homeowner. Leaders in Randolph County, Missouri, are preparing to sell the county's old jail on the online auction site eBay. They plan to start the bidding at more than $32,000, with the auction to start as soon as Wednesday. The two-story structure is 95 years old. The jail doubled as home to the county sheriff and his family until 1989, with separate living quarters including a full kitchen and fireplace. Randolph County officials say they got the idea to sell the jail from their neighboring counterparts. Howard County has sold its jail for $42,000 to a Los Angeles lawyer, who plans to renovate it as a country getaway.
'I stole mail'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
U.S. Supreme Court' name on Monday allowed a California man to be sentenced to spend a day outside a San Francisco post office wearing a signboard stating, "I stole mail. This is my punishment."
The justices rejected an appeal by Shawn Gementera, who argued that this was designed to publicly shame and humiliate him. He said it violated the Sentencing Reform Act and the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Gementera pleaded guilty to mail theft after the police arrested him and an accomplice in 2001 for stealing letters from several mailboxes in San Francisco.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in 2003 sentenced Walker to two months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The conditions for his release required Gementera to spend four days at a post office observing patrons inquire about lost or stolen mail, to write letters of apology to the victims of his crime, to give three lectures at high schools about his crime and to wear the two-sided sign for one eight-hour day.
Gementera appealed the legality of the signboard requirement, but a U.S. appeals court panel, by a 2-1 vote, ruled against him in August.
The appeals court said the record in the case showed that the judge imposed the condition for the legitimate purpose of rehabilitation.
It said the judge could have imposed a lengthier prison term instead of the signboard condition, and added that crimes and the resulting penalties nearly always cause shame and embarrassment.
Gementera's attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court.
"The shaming condition amounted to nothing more than the piling on of an additional and quite gratuitous requirement -- designed to publicly humiliate (Gementera) -- in contravention of federal law," they said.
"Punishments aimed at imposing shame and humiliation are inconsistent with a constitutional requirement that punishments, even for heinous crimes, be consistent with human dignity," they said.
U.S. Justice Department attorneys said a sentence may serve a legitimate rehabilitative purpose, even if makes the defendant feel uncomfortable or embarrassed in public.
The high court turned down Gementera's appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
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