Bella's Blog

MELVILLE, N.Y. (UPI) -- Thousands of U.S. taxpayers' economic stimulus checks have been directly deposited into the wrong accounts by mistake, federal officials said.

A New York man said he noticed an additional $1,800 in his account that the bank concluded was from someone else's Internal Revenue Service stimulus check, Newsday reported Wednesday.

"We do know of instances of problems; we've heard of situations where stimulus checks have gone to the wrong people's bank accounts," said Kevin McKeon, the IRS spokesman for New York.

The man said he was told by the IRS the check was among a group of 15,000 deposited into wrong bank accounts because of an electronic mistake.

The IRS told Newsday most stimulus checks are being distributed in an accurate and timely manner and the agency is "providing answers and resolving taxpayer-specific issues."


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

MOLALLA, Ore. (UPI) -- An Oregon middle-school student has challenged her principal's no-hugging rule.

The Molalla River Middle School adopted the policy last year, the Molalla Pioneer reported. Principal Bob Espenel said students were spending too much time hugging between classes, impeding traffic in the school hallways.

"You'd have groups of 10 to 15 kids and they all had to hug each other

before they went to class," Espenel said. "It was getting out of hand. This is not the Love Boat."

But 7th-grader Desha Eaves thinks hugs are sometimes necessary.

"Sometimes they really need a hug and I didn't think it was fair for me to not give my friend a hug," she said.

She decided to make a formal protest, getting in touch with Espenel and writing the school board. The board decided the issue could be decided at school level, suggesting that Eaves and Espenel talk about the rule.

Espenel said he is not sure Eaves will change his mind. But he appreciates her for trying to work within the system.

LONDON (UPI) -- A British woman said her missing Jack Russell terrier was excited to return home after a psychic used supernatural methods to pinpoint his location.

Nikki Newcombe, 35, was relieved to have her dog, Marmite, return home after he spent a week stranded in a hole, the Mirror reported.

Newcombe went to Pea Horsley, a London woman who says she has psychic abilities, for help after having no luck finding the lost pooch on her own.

Horsley used her abilities to tell Newcombe about landmarks the dog traveled past before falling into the hole, the Mirror said.

Sure enough, Newcombe took Horsley's advice and found Marmite barking from a hole in the ground.

"It's one of the quickest I've found," Horsley said.

VIENNA (UPI) -- An Austrian man walked into a Vienna police station early Wednesday and told officers "in my flat are my dead wife and child."

The 39-year-old man, who remained unidentified late Wednesday, eventually said he had also killed his parents and father-in-law during a rampage Tuesday, The Telegraph reported. All the victims were killed with an ax, which the man said he had bought for that purpose.

Investigators found the bodies of the man's wife and their 7-year-old daughter in their home in an expensive Viennese neighborhood. The father-in-law was killed at his home in Linz, a two-hour drive west of Vienna, and the parents in Ansfelden near Linz.

"We are dealing with a premeditated crime," said Alois Lissl, the Linz police chief. "The attacks were extremely brutal and he always aimed for the head as he struck his victims."

Police said the man told them he wanted to spare his family "the shame of bankruptcy" after he borrowed money from a relative and then lost it in an investment.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (UPI) -- Police in Sheboygan, Wis., say an 8-year-old girl was shot in the leg by her BB gun-wielding mother as part of a $1 bet the parent made with her boyfriend.

Angelique Vandeberg, 28, was charged with a felony count of intentional child abuse after her daughter told her school councilor Vandeberg shot her in the leg with a BB gun after her boyfriend bet her $1 she wouldn't do it, the Sheboygan Press reported Monday.

The girl said both adults had been drinking heavily before the incident. The school councilor said a circular bruise that appeared to be consistent with a BB gun-inflicted injury remained visible on the child's leg days after the alleged incident.

"In my time as a prosecutor I've seen alcohol influence people to do some strange things," Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said of the case. "When people are not in the state of mind to think right, you get strange things happening."

Vandeberg could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

NORWALK, Conn. (UPI) -- An attorney for Norwalk, Conn., says a mother's suit against the city for her toddler's shoes being ruined by dog poo is among the most frivolous he's seen.

City Attorney M. Jeffry Spahr said Kelly DeBrocky of Mahopac, N.Y., filed suit against the city April 7, seeking $100 compensation for her child's ruined shoes and tickets for Maritime Aquarium -- which the mother said her family had to leave early because of the incident -- The (Stamford, Conn.) Advocate reported Thursday.

"I had to read it twice," Spahr said. "Immediately, what I did was say, 'You're not going to believe this one.' It was hilarious. What are these people thinking about? Just when you think you've heard it all."

DeBrocky defended he suit.

"I was just really skeeved, I thought the whole thing was disgusting," she said. "We had to pay for admission to the aquarium and my son had no shoes and it made the entire experience awful."

"The official response is her claim is denied and poop happens," said Spahr.

POSTVILLE, Iowa (UPI) -- U.S. agents raided an Iowa meatpacking plant Monday, arresting up to 700 people suspected of being illegal immigrants or criminals, authorities said.

At least 300 people had been taken into custody at the Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing facility at Postville, with the total expected to reach as high as 700, The Des Moines Register reported. The plant is the largest kosher meatpacker in the United States, the newspaper said.

Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agents conducted the raid under the auspices of a criminal search warrant allowing them to look for evidence related to aggravated identity theft fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other illegal acts. A civil search warrant also allowed the agents to look for illegal immigrants, he said.

The newspaper reported the staff of Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, was told 600-700 arrests were likely. The plant employs about 1,000 workers.

"Based on information thus far developed in the investigation, it appears, based on 2007 fourth-quarter payroll reports, that approximately 76 percent of the 968 employees of Agriprocessors were using false or fraudulent Social Security numbers in connection with their employment," a federal affidavit filed in the case said.


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (UPI) -- Many residents of St. Anthony, Idaho, said they are shocked a 10-year-old girl gave birth after allegedly being raped by a 37-year-old illegal immigrant.

The young girl delivered a baby Saturday at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho, after allegedly being raped by Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez sometime between November and January last year, KIDK-TV, Idaho Falls, Idaho reported Wednesday.

The girl and the baby are in good health.

"Somebody would end up getting hurt by me if that was my kid and I'd probably go to jail," dismayed resident Holly Theisen told reporters.

Gutierrez-Juarez was being held Wednesday at Fremont County Jail and could be given a life prison sentence and $50,000 fine if found guilty, KIDK reported.

The girl has become one of the youngest children to give birth in the United States, the report said.


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

LONDON (UPI) -- The producers of the new British reality show "Naked Office" say they are hunting for companies willing to have their employees shed their clothes.

Producers said the show, set for broadcast on BBC3, will first interview office employees to establish their thoughts on the subject of nudity. Then, over the course of several weeks, some will be asked to participate in life-drawing classes to help them become accustomed to public nakedness, The Sun reported Tuesday.

The show will climax with employees being asked to participate in a "Naked Friday" event at the office. The producers said in a letter inviting companies to participate that the nude work day would be a "very productive day as well as a day to remember."

The purpose of the program is to analyze attitudes toward nudity, body image and the role of clothing in office hierarchy, the producers said.

FRENCH VALLEY, Calif. (UPI) -- A California man charged with starving and physically abusing two women and many of their children has gone on trial almost a decade after his arrest.

Mansa Musa Muhummed's home in Aguanga was raided in 1999. Investigators said he kept two of his three "wives" and 19 children prisoner.

In her opening statement Monday, Assistant Prosecutor Julie Baldwin told jurors they would hear recordings of children screaming, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. She said Muhummed starved his victims and that one 19-year-old girl weighed only 56 pounds.

"These children were stunted due to the fact that the defendant starved them over a period of years," Baldwin said.

Laura Cowan, Muhummed's second "wife," said he moved in with her after her first husband went to prison in 1995. She told the jury Muhummed took total control of her life.

Muhummed claimed he was following Sharia law, but Cowan said she was already a Muslim and did not recognize some of his practices.

Under cross-examination Tuesday, Muhummed's attorney tried to shake Cowan by asking her why she left her baby daughter with Muhummed's first wife after the 1999 raid, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Marva Boddie, his only legal wife, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse in 2000.


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

FORT WORTH, Texas (UPI) -- A prison chaplain convicted of sexually abusing female inmates at a Fort Worth, Texas, medical center was sentenced to four years in prison Monday.

U.S. District Judge Terry Means sentenced Vincent Inametti, 48, a Catholic priest, to 48 months in prison on two counts of sexual abuse of a ward. He also is to pay a $3,000 fine. Inametti was immediately remanded into custody to begin serving his sentence.

Inametti, plead guilty to the charges, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was ordained a priest in his native Nigeria, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release.

The investigation revealed that in 2004 the priest was sexually involved with two inmates at the Federal Medical Center Carswell facility in Fort Worth who were serving federal sentences for drug distribution and conspiracy. Prosecutors said he became acquainted with one victim when she began attending church services, joined the choir and took part in Bible study classes at the facility.


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) -- At least 72 employees at state mental hospitals in Texas have been dismissed in the past three years for assaulting patients, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Hundreds more have been fired for violations like overmedicating patients or sleeping on duty. The newspaper examined personnel records from the 10 state psychiatric hospitals going back to 2005.

Physical abuse included a female patient who was molested in a bathroom and a teenager crying for his mother who was dragged across the room. Employees have also been disciplined for threatening patients with violence or restraining them with chokeholds and headlocks.

Critics say Texas should spend more money on the psychiatric hospitals or on community-based services for the mentally ill.

"You get what you pay for," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who has bipolar disorder. "When you financially dumb something down, you make services cheap, something's got to give. Unfortunately, it usually ends up being a mentally ill or disabled Texan."


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Sex offfender remains on ballot

WILMER, Texas (UPI) -- A registered sex offender who missed the deadline for taking his name off the ballot remains a mayoral candidate in a small town near Dallas.

Wilmer City Secretary Crystol Birdwell told the Dallas Morning News the ballots were already printed by the time J. Brian Sliter decided to leave the race -- he says because of death threats.

Birdwell said she was told that putting up signs to let voters know Sliter is not a candidate would be election interference. She then asked what would happen if Sliter outpolls the two other candidates next Saturday.

"They told me we would cross that bridge when we came to it," she said.

Sliter was arrested in 2004 after investigators said he arranged to meet someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl. In fact, the person he had been chatting with on the Internet was an undercover police officer.

He received deferred adjudication, so his record will be cleared if he stays out of trouble for a decade, although he is a registered sex offender in the meantime.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

INDIANAPOLIS (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sunday blamed market manipulation as the likely cause of record high gas prices in the United States.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," the Democratic presidential contender said if she is elected in November, she will immediately order an investigation into the industry.

"We know that there's market manipulation going on. So I would launch an investigation if I were president right now by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission," Clinton said.

The New York senator said any attempts to lower gas prices should require the participation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"I would begin to go directly at OPEC," she said. "I think it's been 25 years where we've, you know, largely just been at the mercy of the OPEC countries."

Clinton said in addition to taking on OPEC members, she would confront oil companies about the rising cost of gasoline.

"You see, I really believe we've got to start right now demonstrating a willingness to take on these oil companies," she said in response to a "This Week" audience question.


Copyright 2008 by United Press International