The world's most dangerous road


Mark Whittaker
BBC News, Bolivia

It seems perverse that one of the main roads out of one of the highest cities on Earth should actually climb as it leaves town.

But climb it does - just short of a lung-sapping five kilometres (three miles) above sea level, where even the internal combustion engine is forced to toil and splutter.

Then it pauses for a while on the snow-flecked crest of the Andes before pitching - like a giant white knuckle ride - into the abyss.

The road from Bolivia's main city, La Paz, to a region known as the Yungas was built by Paraguayan prisoners of war back in the 1930s.

Many of them perished in the effort. Now it is mainly Bolivians who die on the road - in their thousands.

In 1995, the Inter American Development Bank christened it the most dangerous road in the world. And, as you start your descent, and your driver whispers a prayer, you begin to see why.

The bird's eye view is on the left, on the front seat passenger's side, where the Earth itself seems to open up.

A gigantic vertical crack appears. Way below, more than half a mile beneath your passenger window, you can see - cradled between canyon walls - a thin silver thread: the Coroico River rushing to join the Amazon.

On the driver's side there is a sheer rock wall rising to the heavens. There is no margin of error. The road itself is barely three metres wide. That is if you can call it a road.

After the initial stretch to the top of the mountain it is just dirt track. And yet - incredibly - it is a major route for trucks and buses.

Hairpin bends

Drivers stop to pour libations of beer into the earth - to beseech the goddess Pachamama for safe passage.

Then, chewing coca leaves to keep themselves awake, they are off at break-neck speeds in vehicles which should not be on any road, let alone this one.

Perched on hairpin bends over dizzying precipices, crosses and stone cairns mark the places where travellers' prayers went unheeded. Where, for someone - the road ended.

But even these stark warnings are all too often ignored. As first one - and then a second impatient motorist - overtook our car on the ravine side of the road, my own driver - who hardly ever spoke a word and only then in his native Aymara - intoned loudly, eerily and in perfect English..."You will die."

It is not a rash prediction to make.

Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on a stretch of road less than 50 miles long. In one year alone, 25 vehicles plunged off the road and into the ravine. That is one every two weeks.

It is the end of the dry season in Bolivia. Soon the rains will come - cascading down the walls of the chasm. Huge waterfalls will drench the road - turning its surface to slime.

Then will come those heart-stopping moments when wheels skid and brakes fail to grip. There are stories told of truckers too tired - or too afraid - to continue, who pull over for the night, hoping to see out an Andean storm. But they have parked too close to the edge. And as they sleep in their cabs, the road is washed away around them.

This is not the place to drop off.

Cliff edge

But for now the road is a ribbon of dust. Every vehicle passing along it churns up a sandstorm in its wake.

Choking, blinding clouds obscure the way ahead. Around one hairpin, a cloud of debris was beginning to clear.


Further down the road we passed a spot where a set of fresh tyre tracks headed out into the void
As it did, I could see people milling around in the road. Passengers from one of the overloaded and decrepit buses which run the gauntlet of this road.

It seemed at first that they had got off to stretch their legs, while their driver argued with another vehicle coming in the other direction about who should give way. (Reversing is not something you undertake lightly on a cliff edge.)

It transpired instead though, that the bus driver was dying. Blinded by the dust, he had run into the back of a truck. The bus's steering column had gone through him - severing his legs.

There was nothing anyone could do. Mobile phones do not work here. In any case, who would you call? There are no emergency services.

And no way of getting help through, even if any were to be found. The bus driver bled to death.

We edged past the crumpled bus, and headed on.

Further down the road we passed a spot where a set of fresh tyre tracks headed out into the void. They told their own story.

High in the Andes, they are building a new road. A by-pass, to replace the old one. But this is Bolivia, and already it has been 20 years in the making.

Who knows when it will be complete? Until it is, people will have to continue offering up their prayers, and taking their lives in their hands on the most dangerous road in the world.

Sphere: Related Content

Sexual abuse rampant in Indian hospitals



Kounteya Sinha

Sexual harassment in hospitals, of women doctors and nurses, seems to have become a common practice in India. In a shocking study carried out by international NGO Population Council, 77 of the 135 women doctors and nurses, working in four hospitals in Kolkata, admitted sexual harassment.

However, over 50 of them did not complain. The reason: many feared they will be blamed for provoking sexual harassment. Others worried about loss of reputation after complaining. As many as 45 reported psychological harassment, 41 verbal harassment, 27 unwanted touch and 16 sexual gestures and exhibitionism.

The study also revealed that just 20 of the 135 women interviewed over a period of 11 months by Population Council researcher Paramita Chaudhuri were aware of the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment. What's worse, none of them had heard of a complaints committee for redressal of their grievances.

Several of the respondents also expressed their scepticism about the grievances committee's effectiveness. The study "Sexual harassment in work place experiences of women in the health sector", says victims were sexually harassed by not only their co-workers but also by patients and their relatives.

Doctors and nurses alike agree that sexual harassment is an occupational hazard for working women.

A 30-year-old government doctor said "We have accepted this and this is how things will continue." A 35-year-old nurse added, "Saying bad things when they see a woman is natural.

It doesn't matter if the man is a doctor or a non-medical staffer." The study also found that in a large number of cases the victims were reluctant to go public on this issue. Of the 135 women interviewed, 45 were doctors. Nearly 24 of them had been harassed. Of the 50 nurses, 31 were victims of sexual harassment.

The study said, "By and large, doctors and nurses in government hospitals are permanent employees and those in private hospitals tend to work as consultants. Nurses in private hospitals, although confirmed after 3 months of employment, can be dismissed at any time and therefore have less job security than those in government hospitals.

Health care attendants are employed by patients on a temporary basis and have the least job security. Reluctant to discuss sexual harassment stems from the fear of those on daily wage employment or on contracts that they will lose their job if they go public."

Shockingly, the biggest perpetrators of abuse were patients and their families followed by doctors and non-medical staff. Nurses are the only group harassed by everyone doctors, non-medical staff, patients and their relatives and outsiders the study said.

Sphere: Related Content

Sexual abuse rampant in Indian hospitals

Sexual harassment in hospitals, of women doctors and nurses, seems to have become a common practice in India. In a shocking study carried out by international NGO Population Council, 77 of the 135 women doctors and nurses, working in four hospitals in Kolkata, admitted sexual harassment.


However, over 50 of them did not complain. The reason: many feared they will be blamed for provoking sexual harassment. Others worried about loss of reputation after complaining. As many as 45 reported psychological harassment, 41 verbal harassment, 27 unwanted touch and 16 sexual gestures and exhibitionism.

source

Tags: rampant | worried | working | verbal | unwanted | shocking | seems | REPUTATION | reported | PSYCHOLOGICAL | provoking | nurses | Loss | Hospitals | harassment | gestures | feared | doctors | complain | carried | blamed | become | admitted | Abuse | SEXUAL | population | others | kolkata | INDIAN | India | Council

Sphere: Related Content

Malaysian newspaper gets slapped for sex story

Malaysian government leaders have rebuked a local newspaper for publishing a frank expose of sexual attitudes among the country's youth.


The Weekend Mail gave detailed descriptions of favorite sex positions from its survey -- including "spooning, galloping and tea bag positions" -- in three pages of stories that delivered on its front-page promise: "You'll be shocked."


"I received endless calls and SMS over the articles," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told a ruling-party meeting Sunday.


"The media going overboard in exploiting sex will only worsen our social problems," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, a pro-government daily in the same stable as the Mail.

source

Tags: spooning | ruling-party | rebuked | pro-government | overboard | galloping | Najib | worsen | Survey | stable | slapped | SEXUAL | sex | saying | received | quoted | Publishing | promise | problems | pages | Newspaper | meeting | Media | Leaders | including | Government | going | gets | front-page | Frank | favorite | expose | EXPLOITING | endless | detailed | descriptions | delivered | daily | CALLS | attitudes | Articles | weekend | times | STRAITS | Razak | Minister | Middle East | MALAYSIAN | mail | Deputy

Sphere: Related Content

Malaysian newspaper gets slapped for sex story

Malaysian government leaders have rebuked a local newspaper for publishing a frank expose of sexual attitudes among the country's youth.

The Weekend Mail gave detailed descriptions of favorite sex positions from its survey -- including "spooning, galloping and tea bag positions" -- in three pages of stories that delivered on its front-page promise: "You'll be shocked."

"I received endless calls and SMS over the articles," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told a ruling-party meeting Sunday.

"The media going overboard in exploiting sex will only worsen our social problems," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times, a pro-government daily in the same stable as the Mail.

"The feature spoke of this and that position -- and I am not talking about positions during a football game or the Middle East position," he quipped.

The minister for women, family and community development called the feature irresponsible and "downright vulgar."

The New Straits Times Press Bhd, which prints the Weekend Mail and The Malay Mail daily, apologized unreservedly for the stories and said it would question the editors.

"The articles were offensive and distasteful," the publisher's chief executive, Syed Faisal Albar, said in the apology displayed on the front page of The Malay Mail on Monday.

Mainstream media outlets, many of them controlled or partly owned by ruling-coalition interests, have traditionally followed a conservative moral line in this mainly Muslim nation.

They remain pro-government in reporting political issues, but have begun to experiment with more tabloid-style reporting since Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power three years ago and encouraged more lively debate on non-political issues.

After its romp through free speech, which would also have landed mainstream Western media in trouble, The Weekend Mail said its survey respondents only held one position in common: "One point everyone agreed on was that sex and sex-related issues should be discussed openly to avoid any negative perceptions."

Sphere: Related Content

China's Comrade Condoms

Comrade Lei Feng once sold Mao to the masses. Now he helps them suit up for safe sex. In his unremarkable 22-year life, which ended ingloriously in 1962 when a PLA comrade accidentally backed a truck into a power pole that fell and crushed him, Lei Feng wanted to be nothing more than a selfless "revolutionary screw that never rusts."


The Fengster, a man celebrated as a revolutionary icon of Maoist China for his selfless devotion to the people and even darned his own socks in order to save money to give to others, has realized his dream thanks to Wan Pi Tao Tao, a condom company near Shanghai in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.


source

Tags: unremarkable | ingloriously | darned | Zhejiang | Fengster | Feng | wanted | Thanks | sold | socks | selfless | SCREW | Revolutionary | realized | pole | others | masses | Icon | helps | ended | devotion | crushed | CONDOM | CELEBRATED | backed | accidentally | Shanghai | Ningbo | maoist | Comrade | China

Sphere: Related Content

Top Malaysian Political Figure Held in Gruesome Slaying of "Stunning" Mongolian Model

One of Malaysia's most prominent political analysts has been remanded to custody by police in connection with the gruesome slaying of a Mongolian fashion model who claimed that he was her husband and the father of her 16-month old child.


The saga began when Altantuya "Anna" Shaaribuu, a woman described as "stunning" in press reports, arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Mongolia on Oct. 6 intent on seeing Abdullah Razak Baginda, a well known political figure with close ties to the ruling party. The woman reportedly wanted him to acknowledge his role as the baby's father. The woman's body was later found after being shot twice and blown to bits, either with hand grenades or C4 explosives.


source

Tags: blown | acknowledge | Shaaribuu | Razak | Mongolian | Baginda | Altantuya | wanted | Twice | ties | stunning | Slaying | shot | seeing | saga | Ruling | Role | Reports | reportedly | remanded | prominent | police | Model | known | intent | HUSBAND | gruesome | Grenades | Fashion | described | CUSTODY | connection | claimed | BITS | being | arrived | analysts | MONGOLIA | MALAYSIAN | Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | anna | Abdullah

Sphere: Related Content

China's Comrade Condoms


Justin Mitchell


Comrade Lei Feng once sold Mao to the masses. Now he helps them suit up for safe sex. In his unremarkable 22-year life, which ended ingloriously in 1962 when a PLA comrade accidentally backed a truck into a power pole that fell and crushed him, Lei Feng wanted to be nothing more than a selfless "revolutionary screw that never rusts."

The Fengster, a man celebrated as a revolutionary icon of Maoist China for his selfless devotion to the people and even darned his own socks in order to save money to give to others, has realized his dream thanks to Wan Pi Tao Tao, a condom company near Shanghai in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.


Emblazoned with the familiar "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" slogan, the price to keep your screw clean is 18 yuan for three condoms in a designer cigarette-style box that features two versions black and white and color of a revolutionary style image of the humble Lei wielding a rifle.

There's also a "Chairman Mao Leads Us Forward" edition, with a portrait of the Great Helmsman, for 15 yuan, but it's the Lei Feng icon that has drawn the most attention for sexualizing the closest thing China has to a national saint, Boy Scout -- and presumed virgin.

Unknown to the western world, Lei Feng was, until Mao declared the "Learn from Lei Feng Campaign" on March 5, 1963, a nobody, a cheerful everyman and orphan who made the People's Liberation Army and the Communist Party his family, as recorded in books assembled after his death supposedly from his diary, statements and deeds - "After Liberation I Had a Home"; "My Mother was the Party" and "Bitter Recollections and Sweet Thoughts."

Though some doubt that Lei Feng ever existed, or if he did, still marvel at how so many photographs and documents could exist of a nonentity, his selfless, striving example has served as a lesson for generations of Chinese schoolchildren and it's been conveniently retooled through the decades for myriad social changes. Even in the bold new China of money and stock market IPOs, he continues to serve as in a 2006 an online Lei Feng video game (players collect gold tokens for performing good deeds and darning socks in order to "visit" Chairman Mao) and a navel gazing Lei Feng blog in which he writes about his own legend.

"In March of each year, lots of people start to study me. This kind of thing has gone on for years and years. Sometimes, when I'm helping other people, I'll unconsciously think to myself, 'I'm learning from Lei Feng,' and feel a sincere joy. Sometimes I'll forget that Lei Feng is really me. Me, learning from an even higher me. Sometimes this problem baffles me."

Unlike, say, more celebrated contemporary Chinese bloggers such as Mu Zi Mei who drew international press exposure for her adventurous online sexual escapades and essays, Lei Feng was essentially sexless, a man who eschewed carnal knowledge and contemplation in favor of shoveling shit as detailed in this extract from his diary:

"I've studied all of the documents from the 8th Plenary Session of the CCP 8th Central Committee, and I thought to myself, what can I do for the People's Commune? If I collect manure for fertilizer, I can collect more than 500 pounds in a month and send it to the commune. If the commune wants to figure the money, I'll say that I don't have any gift to give to the commune; this manure is my gift.''

So it was with some shock and surprise that, according to a recent edition of Southern Metropolitan Daily in Guangzhou, a mother in Ningbo was digging through her teenage son's backpack and found an "Official Horndog" certificate and an "Internet Marriage License" in an (unused) tin of "Learn from Lei Feng" condoms.

"It drew attention from all levels," the newspaper reported without specifying what levels those might have been. Nonetheless, the mother's ire reportedly reached the Ningbo Industrial and Commercial Bureau which investigated Wan Pi Tao Tao and, according to Zhang Zhiwen, a spokesman for the condom company, fined the firm 5,000 yuan for using "erotic content."

"Our company has 300 different products and many novelty certificates," Zhang told Asia Sentinel. "But only two broke the 'erotic content' regulation: Official Horndog and a Male Virgin Certificate and that was because we used United Nations and State Security Bureau logos on the certificates without permission. We have removed the logos and paid the fine."

As for using Lei Feng and Mao's images to promote sexual products, he said the Ningbo Industrial and Commercial Bureau did not object. "They are both dead and (the images) have been used for cigarette packages before," he said.

(Indeed, legal regulations involving celebrities, living or dead, as shills for condoms or anything else seem vague at best. In 2003 Beijing Nabeitong Company succeeded in registering 'Mu Zi Mei' as a brand name for condoms. In 2005, the Guangzhou Haojian Bioscience Company began marketing "Clinton" and "Lewinsky" condoms and George W. Bush might become the name of a diaper brand in the near future. According to Danwei.org, a blog about China media and advertising, a man from Henan Province has applied to register the Chinese rendering of 'Bush' (bu shi) as a trademark for diapers, because it is a pun on the words 'not wet'.

And more recently the Beijing Times reported the Guilin Latex Factory is developing Super Girls and 12 Girls Orchestra "oral sex" condoms, named after the popular singers and musicians. Though the Super Girl organization has objected and the condoms are not yet available on the market, a factory spokesman, Tao Ran said the names were inspired by the images of a Super Girls contestants singing into the microphone and a female flute player. Both, he said, are "highly reminiscent of the act that this condom is intended for.")

When pressed about the logic of using Lei Feng's virginal visage to sell rubbers destined for carnal use, Zhang had a prompt reply. "Lei Feng would have supported safe sexual conduct and responsible family planning, I believe. And our condoms are stronger than his socks. He would not need to repair them."

Sphere: Related Content

Top Malaysian Political Figure Held in Gruesome Slaying of "Stunning" Mongolian Model


One of Malaysia's most prominent political analysts has been remanded to custody by police in connection with the gruesome slaying of a Mongolian fashion model who claimed that he was her husband and the father of her 16-month old child.

The saga began when Altantuya "Anna" Shaaribuu, a woman described as "stunning" in press reports, arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Mongolia on Oct. 6 intent on seeing Abdullah Razak Baginda, a well known political figure with close ties to the ruling party. The woman reportedly wanted him to acknowledge his role as the baby's father. The woman's body was later found after being shot twice and blown to bits, either with hand grenades or C4 explosives.

Shaaribuu, accompanied by her sister and a cousin, charged that the baby was the product of a relationship she had with Baginda, when he visited Mongolia two years ago. The model, who may also have gone by the name Anna Ana Ang or Aminah, according to the Bernama News Agency, even claimed the analyst was her husband. Baginda is divorced.

Baginda is now described as "assisting the police in their investigation" along with three Malaysian police personnel including a corporal and a woman detective from the Special Action Force or SAF, who is part of a pool used to guard VIPs and other dignitaries. All have been remanded to custody.

One of the most accessible and quotable of local analysts, Baginda is a frequent source for journalists because of his ties to Najib Abdul Razak, the deputy prime minister and long time defense minister. Razak even wrote the forward to "Malaysia and the Islamic World" a book edited by Baginda and published in 2004. For more than a decade Baginda has been the executive director of the Malaysia Strategic Research Institute, which is technically a private think-tank but has close connections to the Malaysian armed forces and the United Malays National Organisation, the largest party in the ruling coalition.

According to news reports, Shaaribuu found out where Baginda lived, but she never got to see him. Police say she did receive a phone call to meet him on Oct. 29. But according to news reports she was seized by several individuals, pushed into a car and driven away, never to be seen again.

When she did not return to her hotel, the sister and cousin lodged reports with the police, and eventually with the Mongolian honorary consul. Ultimately, a task force of 40 police officers was assembled to put together the circumstances that led the woman to visit Baginda's house, and whether he had summoned the three police officers to take her away.

Local news reports also indicated that police are investigating where the model and Baginda first met and whether they had had a sexual relationship. Musa Hassan, the inspector general of police, said he is asking for a thorough investigation and promised that there will be no cover-up.

"Whoever is involved will be brought to book regardless of his stature," Musa told reporters. "I am also going to find out how and who authorized the issuance of the explosives used in the murder."

Sphere: Related Content

Woman who threw three kids in SF bay goes on trial for murder


A woman accused of throwing her three children into San Francisco Bay is set to go on trial this week for their murders.

Twenty-four-year-old LaShuan Harris' family says she's mentally ill, and she's pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.But prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she dropped her young sons into the water last fall off a pier. They were 16 months, two and six.Harris later told psychiatrists that God had commanded her to sacrifice the three boys, her most precious possessions. Her attorney says Harris believes her children are in heaven and sends God postcards written in crayon.Her mother says, "She was very strung out on God."Jury selection begins Tuesday.

Sphere: Related Content

Today in history - Nov. 12


The Associated Press

Today is Sunday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2006. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 12, 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

On this date:

In 1815, American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, N.Y.

In 1920, Major League Baseball got its first "czar" as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected commissioner.

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1929, Grace Kelly — the future movie star and Princess of Monaco — was born in Philadelphia.

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.

In 1985, Xavier Suarez was elected Miami's first Cuban-American mayor.

In 1990, Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne.

In 2004, a jury in Redwood City, Calif., convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay. (Peterson, who maintains his innocence, was later sentenced to death.)

Ten years ago: A Saudi Boeing 747 jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, killing 349 people. In Pontiac, Mich., Jonathan Schmitz, a guest on "The Jenny Jones Show," was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz during a taping of the program. (Schmitz was later sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.)

Five years ago: An American Airlines Airbus A300-600, en route from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff, killing 265 people. Afghan opposition forces broke through Taliban lines outside Kabul. Fashion editor Carrie Donovan died in New York at age 73.

One year ago: A U.S.-backed summit in Bahrain meant to promote political freedom and economic change in the Middle East ended without agreement, a blow to President Bush's goals for the troubled region. Jordan acknowledged for the first time that al-Qaida in Iraq had used three foreign suicide bombers to attack Amman hotels three days earlier, killing 60 victims.

Today's Birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Ruby Nash Curtis (Ruby and the Romantics) is 67. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 63. Singer Brian Hyland is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jimmy Hayes (Persuasions) is 63. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 62. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 61. Rock musician Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 59. Country singer Barbara Fairchild is 56. Actress-talk show host Megan Mullally is 48. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 45. Rock musician David Ellefson is 42. Actor Sam Lloyd is 39. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 36. Actress Radha Mitchell is 33. Actress Tamala Jones is 32. Actress Angela Watson is 32. Singer Tevin Campbell is 30. Actress Ashley Williams is 28. Actor Ryan Gosling is 26. Actress Anne Hathaway is 24. Pop singer Omarion is 21. Actress Macey Cruthird ("Hope and Faith") is 14.

Thought for Today: "It's all right to have a train of thoughts, if you have a terminal." — Richard R. Bowker, American publisher (1848-1933).

Sphere: Related Content

Hit-and-run driver hits stroller; mom, 2 kids killed

A hit-and-run driver struck a couple crossing a street with a stroller, killing a woman and her two young children and injuring the youngsters' father, police said.


Two men were arrested early Saturday.


Wreckage from the stroller was strewn across the busy intersection Friday night in the popular LoDo district of restaurants, clubs, stores and sports venues.


"I went down there and it was a well-lit street," said police spokesman Sonny Jackson. "There was no excuse for it. It is one of the most horrific accidents we've had."


The father was in stable condition Saturday at Denver Health Medical Center.


The license plate of the red pickup was knocked off in the crash, leading police to the vehicle's owner and to the arrests in neighboring Westminster, authorities said.


The parents were walking with their 4-year-old and 2-year-old children, crossing lawfully at a lighted intersection, Jackson said.


He said police didn't know how fast the truck was going, but witness Alice Maynard told the Rocky Mountain News it appeared to be going about 50 mph.


"It was really fast, and it hit this family and didn't even stop and didn't even slow down," Maynard told KUSA-TV.


Lawrence Trujillo, 36, was arrested on three counts of investigation of vehicular homicide, as well as leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest, police said. Eric Phil Snell, 35, was arrested on three counts of investigation of accessory to a crime.


Jail officials said they didn't know whether the suspects had lawyers.

source

Tags: well-lit | strewn | lighted | youngsters | walking | vehicle | struck | stroller | stores | Sports | spokesman | Restaurants | police | plate | pickup | PARENTS | owner | neighboring | mom | License | leading | LAWFULLY | knocked | KILLED | kids | investigation | intersection | injuring | horrific | Hits | hit-and-run | going | Excuse | driver | District | crossing | crash | COUPLE | counts | Clubs | authorities | arrest | accident | Westminster | Trujillo | Sonny | Maynard | lodo | LAWRENCE | Jackson | friday | Denver

Sphere: Related Content

Hit-and-run driver hits stroller; mom, 2 kids killed

AP

A hit-and-run driver struck a couple crossing a street with a stroller, killing a woman and her two young children and injuring the youngsters' father, police said.

Two men were arrested early Saturday.

Wreckage from the stroller was strewn across the busy intersection Friday night in the popular LoDo district of restaurants, clubs, stores and sports venues.

"I went down there and it was a well-lit street," said police spokesman Sonny Jackson. "There was no excuse for it. It is one of the most horrific accidents we've had."

The father was in stable condition Saturday at Denver Health Medical Center.

The license plate of the red pickup was knocked off in the crash, leading police to the vehicle's owner and to the arrests in neighboring Westminster, authorities said.

The parents were walking with their 4-year-old and 2-year-old children, crossing lawfully at a lighted intersection, Jackson said.

He said police didn't know how fast the truck was going, but witness Alice Maynard told the Rocky Mountain News it appeared to be going about 50 mph.

"It was really fast, and it hit this family and didn't even stop and didn't even slow down," Maynard told KUSA-TV.

Lawrence Trujillo, 36, was arrested on three counts of investigation of vehicular homicide, as well as leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest, police said. Eric Phil Snell, 35, was arrested on three counts of investigation of accessory to a crime.

Jail officials said they didn't know whether the suspects had lawyers.

Sphere: Related Content

Rare stamp may be sealed in Florida ballot box

An absentee ballot was mailed with what may have been a rare stamp worth as much as $200,000 -- the famous Inverted Jenny -- but the envelope is in a box that by law can't be opened.


Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom discovered the stamp while reviewing absentee ballots. There was no name on the envelope, so the vote didn't count.


What looked like a small stamp collection on one envelope caught Rodstrom's eye about 8 p.m. Tuesday. At least one was from 1936, Rodstrom said. Then he noticed one had an upside-down World War I-era airplane -- the hallmark of an Inverted Jenny.


"I was a stamp collector when I was little," Rodstrom told The Miami Herald. "I recognized it."

source

Tags: upside-down | Rodstrom | Inverted | I-era | worth | Vote | stamp | SEALED | reviewing | rare | noticed | mailed | looked | hallmark | envelope | discovered | collection | Ballot | airplane | ABSENTEE | tuesday | Miami | John | jenny | Florida | county | Commissioner | Broward

Sphere: Related Content

Woman shot six times in head lives

A Brazilian woman who was shot six times in the head after an altercation with her ex-husband was out of the hospital and talking to the media on Saturday.


"I know this was a miracle," 21-year-old housewife Patricia Goncalves Pereira told Globo TV. "Now I just want to extract the bullets and live my life."


Pereira was shot Friday in the small city of Monte Claros, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) north of Sao Paulo, after quarreling with her former husband, who was reportedly upset because she refused to get back together with him. She was also shot once in the hand.


Doctors could not explain why the .32-caliber bullets did not penetrate Pereira's skull and didn't even need to be extracted immediately.


"I can't explain how something like this happened," surgeon Adriano Teixeira said, adding that the bullets were lodged under the woman's scalp.


The ex-husband was still at large.

source

Tags: quarreling | extract | ex-husband | altercation | Goncalves | Globo | Claros | upset | times | talking | skull | shot | reportedly | refused | penetrate | Miracle | Media | kilometers | HUSBAND | housewife | hospital | explain | BULLETS | Sao Paulo | Pereira | Patricia | monte | friday | BRAZILIAN

Sphere: Related Content

Rare stamp may be sealed in Florida ballot box

AP

An absentee ballot was mailed with what may have been a rare stamp worth as much as $200,000 -- the famous Inverted Jenny -- but the envelope is in a box that by law can't be opened.

Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom discovered the stamp while reviewing absentee ballots. There was no name on the envelope, so the vote didn't count.

What looked like a small stamp collection on one envelope caught Rodstrom's eye about 8 p.m. Tuesday. At least one was from 1936, Rodstrom said. Then he noticed one had an upside-down World War I-era airplane -- the hallmark of an Inverted Jenny.

"I was a stamp collector when I was little," Rodstrom told The Miami Herald. "I recognized it."

Rodstrom discussed the stamp with other members of the canvassing board, and a stamp-collecting Broward County sheriff's deputy overheard them talking about the possible Jenny.

He said the stamp would be very valuable if it was real. But it was too late.

"By that time we had already sealed the box. And once you seal the box, under the election law you can't unseal it," Broward County Court Judge Eric Beller said.

Elections officials will retain the ballot for 22 months, Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for the Florida secretary of state's office, told The Associated Press. After that, any action is up to the county elections supervisor.

A telephone message left with Fred Bellis, the executive assistant to Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, was not immediately returned Saturday.

Snipes' spokeswoman, Mary Cooney, said the supervisor is too busy with balloting to focus on the stamp. Cooney said ballots and materials are usually destroyed after the 22-month holding period.

"She's (Snipes) not going to be able to take any time to even look at it until after the (ballot) certification on Monday," Cooney told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Maynard Guss, president of the Sunrise Stamp Club, said an Inverted Jenny, if authentic, could be worth $200,000. But when the ballot was mailed the stamp was canceled, reducing its value. Guss estimated a canceled Jenny would likely sell for $20,000 to $100,000.

The 24-cent Jenny stamps were printed in 1918. Sheets were run through presses twice to process all the colors and on one pass, four went through backward. Inspectors caught the errors on three sheets and destroyed them, but somehow, a sheet of 100 stamps got through.

Stamp collectors have spent 88 years trying to find them all.

Sphere: Related Content

Woman shot six times in head lives


AP


A Brazilian woman who was shot six times in the head after an altercation with her ex-husband was out of the hospital and talking to the media on Saturday.

"I know this was a miracle," 21-year-old housewife Patricia Goncalves Pereira told Globo TV. "Now I just want to extract the bullets and live my life."

Pereira was shot Friday in the small city of Monte Claros, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) north of Sao Paulo, after quarreling with her former husband, who was reportedly upset because she refused to get back together with him. She was also shot once in the hand.

Doctors could not explain why the .32-caliber bullets did not penetrate Pereira's skull and didn't even need to be extracted immediately.

"I can't explain how something like this happened," surgeon Adriano Teixeira said, adding that the bullets were lodged under the woman's scalp.

The ex-husband was still at large.

Sphere: Related Content