5 years for setting a homeless man on fire
A mechanic charged with setting fire to a 64-year-old homeless man and his possessions has been sentenced to five years in state prison.
Ruben Sandoval was attacked in an alley Jan. 2 behind an auto repair shop in Santa Ana, California.
Hector Manuel Medina, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of arson causing great bodily injury with an enhancement for using a flammable fluid to light the fire.
Prosecutors had sought an 11-year sentence based on the injuries suffered by Sandoval when his shopping cart was doused with gas.
Sandoval suffered second and third-degree burns. He remains hospitalized and cannot breathe without a respirator.
Medina was allegedly angry because he had caught Sandoval sleeping in Medina's car on a rainy day in December and warned him not to return to the area, the district attorney said.
Read the
Los Angeles Times report
here.
Bystanders ignored pleas as homeless man beaten
As a homeless man was being beaten by four young men, witnesses by the downtown strip mall where the unprovoked attack occurred simply looked on. None bothered to call 911.
Now the police are hoping for better from those who saw the 41-year-old man set upon without warning by attackers, who left their victim with injuries that include a broken nose, possible broken ribs and soft-tissue damage to his legs.
“We're not condemning them for not becoming involved at the time, but they can still help us to help him,” said Constable Steve Holmes in Kelowna, Canada.
He said he hope those witnesses have had time to consider what they saw a couple of days earlier, and “let their consciences direct them to do the right thing.”
Those accounts are crucial to tracking down the four men, described by the victim as being under the age of 25. The victim had been looking for used bottles he could trade in for spare change.
Robbery does not appear to have been a motive. “I don't know if he has anything to take,” Constable Holmes said. Instead, the motive may have been boredom. “Worse things have happened in the name of entertainment,” he said.
Read
The Globe and Mail report
here.
Florida's safety net is shredding
Florida's safety net for people in need is shredding in the face of escalating demand and dwindling resources, says the head of the state's United Way network.
And Florida's safety net is
almong the nation's weakest.
Ted Granger, president of
United Way of Florida, says social service agencies statewide are seeing more and more people who are homeless and hungry. The 211 referral hotlines are seeing increases of 50% to 150% over the last twelve months in people needing basic services, such as assistance with rent and food.
"We're struggling as United Ways across the state," Granger says. "We're probably going to raise less money this year than we did last year at a time when the need is skyrocketing. So it's very difficult, particularly when you're sitting at an agency and you're receiving calls for help and there's nothing you can do."
Granger says the coming year will likely be worse for social services, as Florida's foreclosures are expected to increase and its unemployment numbers to remain high.
Read the WFSU report
here. There's an audio clip, too.
Some good news in Obama's budget,
and some bad
More than $2 billion for HUD grants to combat nationwide homelessness sounds good.
But President Obama's budget also includes steep cuts to housing programs for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Funding for tenant-based and project-based rental assistance programs was increased by $2.1 billion compared with 2010.
Targeted cuts in the proposed budget include housing assistance for people with disabilities (Shelter + Care, I guess), which would be $90 million, compared with $300 million that's estimated for 2010. Housing aid for the elderly could also be drawn down to $274 million, from an estimated $825 million for 2010.
Read
The Wall Street Journal report
here.
