Teacher Fired for Marrying Divorced Man to Sue Catholic School

A San Antonio teacher plans to sue her former employer, a Catholic high school, saying she was fired for marrying a man who had been divorced, a proceeding not recognized by the Catholic Church, the San Antonio Express-News reported Tuesday.
Marquis LaFortune, 25, filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after her Nov. 22 ceremony. She claims that once the school found out her fiancé had been divorced, Deacon Patrick Cunningham told her she had three options: seek an annulment, resign or be fired.
“I would have resigned if I’d felt like I’d done something wrong,” LaFortune told the Express-News last week. “I couldn’t get out of bed. It’s just been this cloud. It was supposed to be the best week of my life, and I had to pull myself together for the ceremony.”
Central Catholic High School said federal law upholds the institution’s decision.
“We have very clear policies on what we expect from Catholic people on our faculty, and there has been a violation of that,” Brother Peter Pontolillo told the Express-News. “When a person does something that is obviously contrary to everything that our Catholic school stands for, we cannot just look through our fingers.” more

Who said that crime doesn’t pay?

Crime shouldn’t pay but in the case of perverted Plattsburgh politico predator George “Chris” Ortloff, he will reportedly collect a $53,000 a year pension for the rest of his life, courtesy of the state taxpayers, even while he’s serving a minimum sentence in federal prison after admitting that he used the Internet to attempt to engage in sexual acts with girls he believed to be 11 and 12 years old.
Ortloff, 61, a former 10-term Assemblyman from Plattsburgh and most recently a commissioner on the state Parole Board, pulling down an annual salary of $101,600, was arrested in the nude on Oct. 13 at a Colonie motel where he thought he was meeting the pre-teen girls. He pleaded guilty this week to a single felony count to avoid being indicted and to gain his release until sentencing.

Police said that between June of 2008 and his arrest on Oct. 13, Ortloff had been communicating over the Internet with an undercover investigator with the New York State Police, trying to set up a sexual liaison in Albany although he believed he was communicating with the girls’ mother. The “mother” was actually an undercover investigator assigned to the New York State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Albany.

Ortloff could be sentenced up to life in prison when he returns to federal court on April 23, after posting a $100,000 bond and released so he could be home for Christmas. The minimum term he must serve, unless there’s some sweetheart deal, is 10 years during which the state will pay him over a half million dollars. more

Chronic 911 caller charged with harassing authorities

A Tamaqua man who had more than 100 contacts with police in the past two years faces charges of harassing authorities with calls about a rock in his yard being moved 4 inches, pool water ruining his grass and children making noise.David W. Roeder, 51, of 130 W. Spruce St. should face single counts of persistent disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person, District Judge Stephen J. Beyer of Tamaqua ruled. Beyer dismissed a count of harassment by communication.Beyer’s ruling came exactly two years after Tamaqua Police Chief Dave Mattson, then a patrolman, advised Roeder in writing “to cease and desist the nonsense calls to the station and 911 center.”In an arrest affidavit, police say they brought the charges after years of warning Roeder against making phone calls to Schuylkill County Communications Center without a legitimate complaint. His calls tied up emergency telephone lines and operators and kept police officers from responding to legitimate police calls, the affidavit says.

Court Strikes Down Sex Offender’s 28-Year Sentence

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
A federal appeals court has ruled that a convicted sex offender’s 28-year prison sentence for failing to properly update his home address with authorities was too harsh.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered a lower court to reconsider the punishment of Cecilio Gonzalez. He was handed the lengthy term under California’s three-strikes law, which requires a minimum prison sentence of 25 years after a third violent or serious felony conviction.Gonzalez had failed to check in with authorities five days after his birthday. Sex offenders are required to update authorities annually of their home addresses.The appeals court said that failure to update his Burbank address was a technical violation and didn’t count as a third strike.

Staff at hospital which ignored dying man for six hours while nurses posed for calendar shoot

Smiling for the camera, these are staff at the hospital where a dying man was not seen for six hours – posing for a calendar in which they mock waiting times.
Stewart Fleming, 37, was left doubled up in agony despite arriving in casualty with a letter from his GP saying he needed immediate attention.
After he was finally seen on December 15, he rapidly deteriorated. He died two days after Christmas from a viral illness.

Fooling around: But staff might now regret joking about waiting times at the hospital in their charity calendar

Cardiology assistant practitioner Leanne Thomas dressed up as Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson
Yesterday, his family questioned the hospital’s decision to release the charity calendar.
Mr Fleming’s sister-in-law, Lesley Mavin, 39, said that she did not want to criticise efforts to raise money for a good cause.
However, she added: ‘Their main job is to be a hospital.’
The calendar was launched at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent on December 17, and features doctors and nurses dressed up as stars from Fawlty Towers, Baywatch, Open All Hours and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In one picture a nurse and two medics pose next to a sign that reads: ‘Waiting time 26.5 seconds!’. more

Whats on your mind

Staff at hospital which ignored dying man for six hours while nurses posed for calendar shoot

Smiling for the camera, these are staff at the hospital where a dying man was not seen for six hours – posing for a calendar in which they mock waiting times.
Stewart Fleming, 37, was left doubled up in agony despite arriving in casualty with a letter from his GP saying he needed immediate attention.
After he was finally seen on December 15, he rapidly deteriorated. He died two days after Christmas from a viral illness.

Fooling around: But staff might now regret joking about waiting times at the hospital in their charity calendar

Cardiology assistant practitioner Leanne Thomas dressed up as Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson
Yesterday, his family questioned the hospital’s decision to release the charity calendar.
Mr Fleming’s sister-in-law, Lesley Mavin, 39, said that she did not want to criticise efforts to raise money for a good cause.
However, she added: ‘Their main job is to be a hospital.’
The calendar was launched at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent on December 17, and features doctors and nurses dressed up as stars from Fawlty Towers, Baywatch, Open All Hours and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In one picture a nurse and two medics pose next to a sign that reads: ‘Waiting time 26.5 seconds!’. more

Whats on your mind

72 year old man jumps from second-floor window and extinguishes fire

A 72-year-old Batavia man this morning jumped from the second-floor of his townhouse, broke open a first-floor window and single-handedly extinguished a fire, according to the Batavia Fire Department.Firefighters were called to Walden Estates, an apartment complex at 337 Bank St., about 3:40 a.m. and arrived to find that the male tenant in Apt. 5 had already extinguished the fire, said Batavia Fire Chief Tom Dillon.The 72-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman were sitting in the living room, covered in soot at that time, he said. Firefighters helped the couple exit the townhouse. more

Whats on your mind

72 year old man jumps from second-floor window and extinguishes fire

A 72-year-old Batavia man this morning jumped from the second-floor of his townhouse, broke open a first-floor window and single-handedly extinguished a fire, according to the Batavia Fire Department.Firefighters were called to Walden Estates, an apartment complex at 337 Bank St., about 3:40 a.m. and arrived to find that the male tenant in Apt. 5 had already extinguished the fire, said Batavia Fire Chief Tom Dillon.The 72-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman were sitting in the living room, covered in soot at that time, he said. Firefighters helped the couple exit the townhouse. more

Whats on your mind

These Wacky Laws Still on the Books in America

From changing the color of baby chicks to shooting effigies to properly honoring the glory of the log cabin, Americans have spent valuable legislative hours throughout the years making sure we’re on the straight and narrow.
As a New Year arrives, here are 10 wacky laws that remain on the books across the country:
1. In Billings, Mont., it is illegal for anyone to sell, harbor or give away rats as pets or toys for any purpose other than to feed snakes or birds of prey. Scientists, however, can keep lab rats.
2. Using profanity is against the law on playgrounds and in public parks in Columbia, Md.
3. The last Sunday in June each year is Log Cabin Day in Michigan.
4. In Michigan, it is legal to kill a dog for attacking chickens, livestock or people, but you can’t snuff the pooch in a high altitude decompression chamber or by electrocution.
5. In West Virginia, anyone who taunts someone who decides not to participate in a duel or who declines to accept a challenge is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be sent to jail for up to six months and fined up to $100.
6. In Kentucky it is illegal to sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, display, or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits that have been dyed or colored. It is also illegal to dye or color baby chicks, ducklings, fowl or rabbits. And unless they are at least two months old, the aforementioned animals must be sold in batches of six. more

Whats on your mind

These Wacky Laws Still on the Books in America

From changing the color of baby chicks to shooting effigies to properly honoring the glory of the log cabin, Americans have spent valuable legislative hours throughout the years making sure we’re on the straight and narrow.
As a New Year arrives, here are 10 wacky laws that remain on the books across the country:
1. In Billings, Mont., it is illegal for anyone to sell, harbor or give away rats as pets or toys for any purpose other than to feed snakes or birds of prey. Scientists, however, can keep lab rats.
2. Using profanity is against the law on playgrounds and in public parks in Columbia, Md.
3. The last Sunday in June each year is Log Cabin Day in Michigan.
4. In Michigan, it is legal to kill a dog for attacking chickens, livestock or people, but you can’t snuff the pooch in a high altitude decompression chamber or by electrocution.
5. In West Virginia, anyone who taunts someone who decides not to participate in a duel or who declines to accept a challenge is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be sent to jail for up to six months and fined up to $100.
6. In Kentucky it is illegal to sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, display, or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits that have been dyed or colored. It is also illegal to dye or color baby chicks, ducklings, fowl or rabbits. And unless they are at least two months old, the aforementioned animals must be sold in batches of six. more

Whats on your mind