Thursday, October 29, 2009

plus 4, Arrest made in Stanton double homicide - Orange County Register

plus 4, Arrest made in Stanton double homicide - Orange County Register

Arrest made in Stanton double homicide - Orange County Register

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 10:08 PM PDT

SANTA ANA – Nearly nine months after the co-owner of a Stanton mobile home business and his longtime secretary were shot to death, investigators believe they have the man responsible for pulling the trigger.

Hilbert Pinnel Thomas, 38, of Garden Grove was arrested Wednesday night after an intense round-the-clock stakeout of the dead woman's Lexus.

"He is an indiscriminate, cold-blooded killer," said Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens. Thomas remains behind bars.

Matthew Scott, 42, and Elizabeth Palmer, 49, were shot and killed the morning of Feb. 2 in the front office of the mobile home sales business on Beach Boulevard. Scott's father, Don, walked into the office to find his son and his long-time secretary shot to death. He called 911 to report the deaths. Palmer's white Lexus GS 300 was missing from its usual parking spot, he told authorities.

It was that white Lexus that proved to be the missing link for Sheriff's Department investigator Joe Gaul.

After dozens of tips and an emotional plea for help from Palmer's family, the car and the killer remained on the lam. Every week, Gaul talked to Palmer's husband Richard, updating him on the case. Last week, Gaul was able to tell him something different.

They had found Elizabeth's Lexus, and they were watching it – hoping it would lead them to her killer.

Parked in a forgotten corner of the El Dorado Inn, an apartment complex at 3360 W. Lincoln Ave. in Anaheim, the Lexus sat – just four miles from where Matthew Scott and Elizabeth Palmer lost their lives.

The license plates had been removed – replaced with paper plates. It was shiny, like it had just been washed.

Investigators waited and watched. Dozens of investigators from the Sheriff's Department and nearby agencies banged on doors and talked to people, hoping for a clue to who held the keys to the Lexus – and the case.

On Wednesday, investigators ended their stakeout at the 300-unit apartment complex. The Lexus GS 300 was towed to a forensics laboratory and technicians combed the car for evidence. Hours later they had their man, Gaul said.

Investigators were tight-lipped Thursday about how they linked Thomas to the double-murder. What they were sure of, Gaul said, was they had evidence to connect him to the crime.

After nearly nine months, Gaul was able to give the news he wanted to give to Richard Palmer – they had the man they think killed Elizabeth.

"This last week has just been a nailbiter," said Richard Palmer. "I'm just glad they caught this guy."

But why someone would shoot the Stanton businessman and his secretary remains a mystery.

Richard Palmer said he called his wife right before she was shot to death.

"It was just a normal, boring day at work," he said. Minutes later, his wife would be dead.

"I can't see killing two people over a lousy car," Richard Palmer said. "She would have just given him the keys and anything else he wanted and he would have left."

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Celtics torch hapless Bobcats - Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 06:30 AM PDT

BOSTON —  Maybe the Celtics will be able to get by without Glen "Big Baby" Davis after all.

After ending an 11-game losing streak in Cleveland Tuesday to start the season, the Celtics toyed with the Charlotte Bobcats, 92-59, last night at the Garden in their home opener.

Charlotte's 59 points broke the franchise record for fewest in a game by three and came within two of the fewest allowed by Boston since the shot clock was instituted for the 1953-54 season.

Davis is expected to be sidelined 6-8 weeks after breaking his right thumb in a fistfight with a friend late Sunday night and undergoing surgery Tuesday. With the way the Celtics have played without him and the anger Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck expressed with him, Davis must be wondering if he'll ever be able to break back into the lineup when he's healthy again.

Tuesday, even without Davis, the Celtics bench outscored Cleveland's, 26-10, in a 95-89 victory. Last night, Boston's starters reminded everyone that they're not bad, either. The starters scored all but seven points while the Celtics jumped out to a 67-41 lead through three quarters.

Ray Allen scored 18 points, Paul Pierce pumped in 15, Rajon Rondo collected 10 points and 11 assists, and Kevin Garnett had 10 points and seven rebounds. Kendrick Perkins came within a point of giving Boston five starters in double-figure scoring, finishing with nine points to go with his seven boards. Replacing Davis, Shelden Williams had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Gerald Wallace paced the Bobcats, who never led, with 10 points.

The Bobcats ranked last in the NBA in scoring last season, and they don't appear to be any more proficient at putting the ball in the basket this year. The Celtics, who ranked first in defensive field goal percentage last year, limited the Bobcats to 28.3 percent through three quarters and 31.1 percent overall last night. Charlotte had only two more baskets (23) than turnovers.

"We always stress high hands," Pierce said. "We're able to get out in the passing lanes, force turnovers and get out on the break. It makes things easier when you're doing those things."

"I thought it was great," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of his team's defense. "Obviously, very active early. Tons of deflections. We keep that number, and it was as high as you can possibly get at halftime, and I thought it carried over. The last two nights, it was absolutely wonderful."

"The majority of our practices are schemes and how we're going to defend," Garnett said.

The Celtics made 11 3-pointers to Charlotte's none. Antoine Walker would have loved to play in this game.

"We're taking good 3s," Rivers said. "I'm a fan of a 3 if the ball starts from the inside and works its way out. I thought that's what we did especially in the second half. Most of them came from drives to the basket and out, and post and out. In the first half, I thought we went through that stretch where we were searching for the 3-point line."

The game was over after three quarters, but the Garden waited until 5:43 remained in the fourth to show the disco-dancing Gino on the scoreboard. Garnett had to explain to Rasheed Wallace, who made his Garden debut as a Celtic, that showing Gino is the video equivalent of lighting up a victory cigar.

"He was asking why the crowd was going crazy," Garnett said, "and I had to explain the whole Gino thing."

The Celtics used a 25-10 third quarter to stretch their lead to 67-41. Charlotte needed a Raymond Felton jumper at the buzzer to reach double figures in the quarter. Felton returned after getting 15 stitches in his lower right lip in the second quarter.

The Celtics outscored Charlottte, 21-2, to start the second half and extend their lead to 63-33. Pierce's 3-pointer capped a 15-0 spurt to open the half and make it 57-31 midway through the third.

"Our team wasn't prepared," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said, "we weren't ready to play. That's nobody's fault but the coach."

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Smart Home” - Time Out New York

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 06:55 PM PDT

Museum of Science and Industry

5700 S Lake Shore Dr (at 57th St)
Bronzeville/Hyde Park/South Shore, Chicago | Map

773-684-1414

Bus: 6, 10, 55 | Directions

http://www.msichicago.org

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White House Garden reaps fall harvest for soup kitchen - Baltimore Sun

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 06:04 PM PDT

WASHINGTON - Cupboards at a soup kitchen near the White House will be spilling over for several days after a donation of fresh produce harvested Thursday from first lady Michelle Obama's vegetable garden.

Mrs. Obama invited about 30 fifth-graders from two District of Columbia public elementary schools to help with the project. One of the schools, Bancroft Elementary, has helped with the garden since it began, preparing the soil, planting the seeds and harvesting in the spring.

"Are you guys ready to do some work? Are you ready to work really hard? Are you ready to get dirty?" she asked them. "All right, let's go! Let's go, let's do it, let's do it."

The students were broken up into groups of three and paired with an adult who instructed them on what to do. All told, they spent about a half-hour jabbing and digging at the plot on the South Lawn with pitchforks and other tools.

They filled one wheelbarrow with huge sweet potatoes and filled baskets and bowls with carrots, fennel, red leaf lettuce and more. The total weight was not immediately available, but everything is to be given to Miriam's Kitchen. Mrs. Obama helped serve meals there earlier this year.

The first lady and her group first tackled sweet potatoes before moving on to carrots and big bulbs of fennel. At one point, she held up a one of the larger orange-colored spuds and said: "This can feed an army."

Before the harvesting began, she said she and daughters, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, already had helped themselves to some sweet potatoes.

The harvest was the second for the garden. More than 70 pounds of lettuce and 12 pounds of peas came out of a springtime harvest of the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped plot. After that, fall crops were planted, leading to Thursday's event.

Mrs. Obama started the garden in March, saying she wanted to use it to talk about the importance of eating a nutritious diet and show what good, fresh food tastes like. She said the garden already has produced more than 740 pounds of food, at a cost of about $180 to prepare the soil and plant the seeds. Some has been served at White House events.

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Two more arrested in Garden City shooting - Idaho Statesman

Posted: 22 Oct 2009 11:21 PM PDT

Two more men have been arrested in connection with Monday's shooting death of 25-year-old Irving Romero at a Garden City mobile home park.

Garden City police arrested Michael Lee Stolp, 24, of Boise on Thursday. Police say Stolp was the owner and driver of the truck witnesses reported fleeing the scene of the murder. Stolp was charged Thursday with felony accessory to murder.

Police also charged Christopher Lee Naughtin, 28, of Boise with two felonies — being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and destruction of evidence. Naughtin, who was driving murder suspect Carlos Navarrete when he was arrested, was also charged with misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon and driving without a license.

Officials say Naughtin's charges are not related to Romero's death. Both men were scheduled for arraignment Friday.

Navarrete, 27, was arrested Tuesday morning at a residence near State Street and Ellens Ferry Drive in Boise, less than three miles from the Garden City mobile home park where Romero was killed.

Prosecutors said Navarrete was identified as the shooting suspect by five of eight people at a Garden City trailer at the time of the Monday shooting.

Navarrete, who Garden City police described as a transient, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 3 before 4th District Magistrate Michael Oths on a charge of second-degree murder. He is being held on a $1 million bond.

Ada County Coroner's officials say Romero, 25, was killed Monday by a single gunshot wound to the back.

Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Medema said Wednesday that trouble began Monday morning when Navarrete went to the trailer park in the 8300 block of Chinden Boulevard and got angry after he went inside and discovered Romero there.

Medema said a verbal dispute ensued, which ended when Romero was shot as he walked out of the trailer.

Garden City police responding to a 911 call about 11:40 a.m. Monday found Romero lying in the driveway in lot 28 in the Poplar Trailer Park. By then, Navarrete had left the home.

Garden City Police Chief Jim Bensley said Wednesday the trailer was described as a "flophouse" by neighbors who were concerned about possible drug activity.

Romero and Navarrete have lengthy misdemeanor criminal records. Romero has been convicted of assault, possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a concealed weapon. Court records show Navarrete has convictions for burglary, drunken driving and driving without a license or insurance.

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