Happens up in Boston, so....
"Nun, 83, awaits sentence for break-in" Associated Press, January 28, 2014
NASHVILLE — An 83-year-old Catholic nun convicted in a protest and break-in at the primary US storehouse for bomb-grade uranium will find out Tuesday whether she spends what could be the rest of her life in prison.
Sister Megan Rice is one of three Catholic peace activists convicted of sabotage last year after they broke into the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Sentencing for all three is set for Tuesday at US District Court in Knoxville.
The government has recommended sentences of about six to nine years each for Rice, Michael Walli, and Greg Boertje-Obed.
It also is seeking restitution of nearly $53,000 for damage incurred when the three cut through fences and painted slogans on the outside wall of the plant. The protesters also splattered blood and hammered on the wall.
The activists are asking for leniency.
They say their actions at the Y-12 National Security Complex were symbolic and meant to draw attention to America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, which they call immoral and illegal.
‘‘These people have been committed peace and justice advocates for decades,’’ defense attorney Bill Quigley said.
However, US District Judge Amul Thapar has refused previous requests for leniency from the defendants, including his decision that they would remain jailed until sentencing.
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Related: Time For This Post About Tennessee
Also see: If You Are Anti-Nuclear Power, You Might Be a Terrorist
"Judge orders activists to pay full restitution" by Travis Loller | Associated Press, January 29, 2014
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A judge ordered an 83-year-old nun and two other Catholic peace activists to pay full restitution of nearly $53,000 for damaging the primary US storehouse for bomb-grade uranium.
But their sentencing Tuesday was postponed until next month after the federal courthouse in Knoxville shut down because of snow....
More than 100 supporters from across the country had come to Knoxville on Tuesday to hear whether US District Judge Amul Thapar would heed the defendants’ pleas for leniency.
The three have argued that their actions were symbolic and meant to draw attention to America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, which they believe to be immoral and illegal.
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It's sad that the face of protest in AmeriKa is an old lady.
Where are the kids?
Get your head out of the damn iPhone, will ya?
The face of something else:
"Ex-Senate aide faces child porn charges" by Frederic J. Frommer and Travis Loller | Associated Press, December 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — The fired chief of staff for Senator Lamar Alexander made his first court appearance Thursday on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
Ryan Loskarn answered softly, ‘‘Yes, sir,’’ when US Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola asked Loskarn whether he understood that he was charged with serious offenses.
Prosecutor Mi Yung Park argued that Loskarn, 35, was a flight risk and danger to society and asked the judge to hold him until a preliminary hearing Monday, when Loskarn will enter his plea. Facciola agreed to the prosecution’s request.
He faces up to 10 years on the possession charge, with no minimum, and five to 25 years on the distribution charge.
According to a filing with the US District Court on Thursday, police used a ram to enter Loskarn’s home the day before, and noticed that he put something on the ledge outside a window. It turned out to be a portable hard drive with videos depicting child pornography, according to the filing.
Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, said he was ‘‘stunned, surprised and disappointed’’ by the allegations.
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"Ex-aide to US senator hangs himself" by DAVID DISHNEAU | Associated Press, January 25, 2014
A former aide to US Senator Lamar Alexander hanged himself in his parents’ basement in Maryland as he awaited trial on child pornography charges, officials said Friday.
Ryan Loskarn, 35, was pronounced dead in Sykesville, Md., on Thursday, said Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. He said the death was ruled a suicide.
Family members called police after finding Loskarn unresponsive in the basement, where he had been living, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on its website.
A federal judge had allowed Loskarn to live with his parents while awaiting trial on charges of possession and attempted distribution of child pornography.
Loskarn had been chief of staff for Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, for two years before his arrest. He was fired immediately after his arrest.
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Related: Sen. Lamar Alexander's ex-chief of staff charged with child-porn commits suicide?
"Tenn. teen pleads guilty to killing principal" by Adrian Sainz | Associated Press, September 04, 2013
MEMPHIS — A Memphis teen who police say studied close-combat battle tactics and sharpened his knife the night before he fatally stabbed his high school principal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday.
Eduardo Marmolejo, 18, told Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward that he accepted a plea deal and a 35-year sentence without parole. He then apologized to the family of Suzette York, whom he stabbed multiple times and left for dead in a pool of blood in a classroom on Aug. 10, 2011.
‘‘I apologize for my bad behavior,’’ Marmolejo said. ‘‘I’m not the same man I used to be. I’m a better man.’’
Marmolejo was charged with first-degree murder after the attack on York, 49, on the third day of school.
York was Marmolejo’s principal at Memphis Junior Academy, a private school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church....
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Related: Chism's Jism
Also see: Philip Chism hit with new rape charge in teacher’s death
What's wrong with kids in Tennessee?
"It is not just the inmates who love the program, but also professors and traditional Lipscomb students who vie for opportunities to teach and attend classes inside the Tennessee Prison for Women."
"Mayor in Tenn. accused of theft has backers" by Travis Loller | Associated Press, November 29, 2013
GREENBRIER, Tenn. — A small-town mayor charged with stealing from the Toys for Tots charity he founded has not been drummed out of town, or even out of office.
Many people in Greenbrier say they cannot believe that Mayor Billy Wilson would steal from charity. Many others say they are withholding judgment and waiting to see whether he is found guilty.
It was clear that Wilson has built up a lot of good will in the community of about 6,500 people where he has been mayor since 2004. Wilson also is chief of the Volunteer Fire Department and until earlier this month ran a charity called GreenRidge Toys for Tots, which supporters say did much more than helping children at Christmas.
Wilson was arrested Nov. 4 and charged with stealing $60,000 from the Toys for Tots program, which is not affiliated with the national program run by the US Marine Corps. He is accused of taking money for his personal benefit.
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Time to get out of town:
"8 KILLED AFTER BUS TIRE BLOWS OUT -- A bus carrying a church group crashed on Interstate 40 in Tennessee on Wednesday when it crossed a grassy median into the path of a tractor-trailer and an SUV, authorities said. The accident in Dandridge, east of Knoxville, closed the highway (Boston Globe October 3 2013)."
Ever been tickled so much you stop laughing?
