Reporter wins journalism award but remains homeless
Reporter Jose Espinosa stands outside of the homeless shelter where he currently lives, holding the article that garnered him an international journalism award.
The story of famed boxer Matthew Saad Muhammed's journey from an orphanage to light heavyweight champion of the world to living in a homeless shelter won an international journalism award for another resident of the same Philadelphia shelter.
Jose Espinosa's story, "Fighting Back," was published in Philadelphia's street newspaper, One Step Away, and won an award from the International Network of Street Papers.
Weeks after the story broke, Muhammed received job offers and financial assistance. He moved out of the shelter where Espinosa remains.
Six homeless campers whose possessions were tossed out by crews clearing property have settled a federal lawsuit against Oregon’s Department of Transportation.
The state transportation agency also agreed to stricter procedures for handling possessions taken from homeless camps in rights of way. Under the rewritten rules, ODOT and other agencies must post adequate information about where campers can retrieve their belongings once they are taken in a campsite sweep.
“It was clear that we had not followed our own procedures in cleaning up the sites,” said Patrick Cooney, ODOT spokesman. “We worked with the Oregon Law Center to develop a new process and the ways we’re going to do this in the future.”
Under the settlement, $10,000 will be given to plaintiffs Joel Tucker, Steven Fletcher, Jeff Nelson, Robert Dean Thomas, Chandra Waulters and Mitchal Poncel and $14,000 pays attorney’s fees.
Lunch organizer: Don't want trouble, just want to help the homeless
Before serving a meal to the homeless, Margaret Luger bowed her head in prayer, saying she didn’t want to cause trouble; she just wants to help.
Luger and others were back at Overton Park in Lubbuck, Texas, a week after city health inspectors informed them they couldn’t feed the homeless because they didn’t prepare the homemade food in an approved kitchen.
So this time, they brought food purchased directly from the store, not requiring any preparation, including boxes of pizza, watermelon and containers of cake.
It was more expensive, Luger said, but she assured the homeless she wouldn’t give up trying to help them.
City Councilman Todd Klein also attended the lunch as a private citizen to show his support for the Lugers. Klein said he thought the city’s health department warning to the Lugers was “over-reaching,” but said he would propose an amendment to the ordinance if that’s what it took to make sure everything was clear.
He believes the picnic lunch for the homeless falls into the category of communal and charitable in nature. “You just don’t need the government interference (in that),” Klein said.
Read the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal report here. And see previous post here.
An isolated county park in Mims could become the future site of a "tent city" to house some of Brevard County's homeless population.
Brevard County Commission Chairman Robin Fisher and advocates for the homeless are pushing a plan to convert a section of Hatbill Park in Mims into a tent city for people without a permanent place to live, in a plan modeled after Pinellas Hope.
The renewed push to find a legal alternative to homeless people illegally camping on private property was triggered by a recent Titusville Police Department initiative to clear out homeless camps in the city in advance of the last shuttle launch.
Read the Florida Today report here. And see previous post here.
A homeless street musician in Denver is getting hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube and his album of cover tunes is rising high on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts.
David Dred Scott moved to Denver 16 years ago for the music scene. He does what he loves full time but income from the streets is inconsistent.
"I've come out here, set up, played, broke a string, made a dollar and left. I've come out here and played and made $300," he said.
Tyler Ward stumbled onto his talent one day walking down the street and with the help of an outreach group, they recorded his music. Scott's talent generated almost $2,000 in the first two days.
It may not be enough to get him completely off the streets but it's a start.
Scott's album of cover tunes, "Live From 16th Street Mall," sells for $3.99 on iTunes.
Proceeds are used to buy food and clothing for Scott, but he does not get cash directly.
Panama City police say they didn't know about the homeless camp until a few days ago. But from the setups and well worn trails through the property, it seems apparent it’s not a new development and an estimated 25 to 35 people live there. The sites have places to eat with tables and chairs, places to sleep with bedding inside tents and under tarps, and places to cook with fire pits and barbecue grills.
When police officers first learned of the site, they walked through and told the people there they planned to contact property owners to find out if they wanted those staying there to be asked to move, said Sgt. Jeff Becker.
The location is comprised of land held by several property owners, but the largest piece, about 12 acres, is owned by the First United Methodist Church. Church representatives, who could not be reached for comment, told police officers they didn’t want the homeless living there, Becker said.
Sarasota gets two spots in the second five: Number 8 for its smoking ban and Number 6 for its removal of benches.
Number 10 is many more cities across America (including Orlando) are installing converted parking meters to collect donations for homeless service organizations.
The top five will be announced next week. The list is a preview of NCH's upcoming report on the criminalization of homelessness. The report also will rank the nation’s ten “meanest” cities.
John Martin was camped out in front of City Hall, but then has moved across the street. Martin is protesting Mayor Dan Sullivan's policy of clearing homeless camps in Anchorage.
Peeved by his inability to stop a homeless man's sit-down protest downtown, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan wants a law that would punish anyone who sits or reclines on a downtown sidewalk.
The idea of a new law came up, said city attorney Dennis Wheeler, because the administration wanted to remove John Martin, who says he is protesting the mayor's treatment of homeless people -- particularly, the city's decision to take and destroy some homeless people's possessions during the course of clearing out illegal camps on public property around town.
"We got calls and complaints about this guy sitting and camping on the sidewalk," said Wheeler. "So we looked at our code and we didn't have anything that specifically addressed sleeping or sitting on the sidewalk."
The city was able to get a judge to rule that Martin had violated a prior court order that he not camp on municipal property, and to order him off the City Hall block.
Citing city code, city asks group to stop serving meals to homeless
A group of people were told their trek to Overton Park in Lubbock, Texas, to serve homemade meals to the homeless violated city codes.
They had finished serving the meals when two city officials informed the group of its violation.
Muddying the water is the exception given to places of worship under the ordinance. Churches can serve food without a permit in a non-approved kitchen to their congregations, but once they extend the invitation to the general public, they must have a permit and an approved kitchen.
But when is a group of people a congregation?
The group, which is not an official ministry of a church, hands out Bibles and prays before the meal.
“If you want to get technical,” offered Chad Wheeler, a pastor with Carpenter’s Church who joined the group at the park, “Jesus says that whenever two or more are gathered in my name, I am with them. I would say this is as much a church service as any place.”
If St. Pete's homeless aren't on the streets, where are they?
Park benches in downtown St. Petersburg were mostly empty as city police began enforcing the new sleeping ban.
Williams Park was practically devoid of the street people downtown has battled for so long. As St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster and city police begin enforcing a recent ban on public sleeping, it appears word spread early enough to make folks leave on their own.
City officials say most of the homeless people are now in shelters, such as the new Pinellas Safe Harbor facility near the county jail.
But some on the street say they're simply scattered in darker corners.
A new courtyard with 100 spots has opened outside Safe Harbor, which is run by the Pinellas Sheriff's Office. That brings the total occupancy to 470.
So there is plenty of space for the police department to start enforcing an ordinance that prohibits the homeless from sleeping on any right of way, including the sidewalk, if there is an available bed at a shelter. If there weren't any beds available at either of the two shelters, they couldn't enforce it.
The courtyard is reserved for the more problematic homeless, a sheriff's spokesman said. There are rubber mats underneath mattresses, picnic tables and portable toilets. Huge canopies protect the homeless in the courtyard from the rain.
The idea is that once the more disruptive start behaving, they can land a spot inside, where they get a bunk bed, regular meals, and shower facilities.
Homelessness is no excuse for sex offenders not registering, court says
Convicted sex offenders cannot use homelessness as an excuse for not reporting their whereabouts to police, a divided Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.
Homelessness "in no way prevents (an) offender from physically entering a law enforcement agency and truthfully reporting ... information regarding the offender's residence," the court found. Its four Republican members signed the majority opinion.
The three Democratic justices dissented, saying the majority's opinion "defies" common sense.
A park bench, highway underpass or steam grate may qualify as a place where a homeless individual sleeps, but they hardly qualify as a 'regular place of lodging' under the statute," Justice Marilyn Kelly wrote for the minority.
Randall Dowdy, who served 18 years in prison for kidnapping and rape, was charged in 2006 with failing to report his whereabouts after he was told he could no longer go to a Lansing shelter because he was a convicted sex offender. While living on the streets, he was charged with violating the Sex Offender Registration Act for not telling police where he was living.
Street newspaper The Contributor has sued the city of Brentwood, Tennessee, claiming that an effort to clear newspaper vendors off its streets deprives them of free speech.
The Contributor, staffed mainly by the homeless and formerly homeless, and the ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court over Brentwood citing and fining eight of the newspaper’s street vendors.
In January, Calvin Hart, Andrew Harrington and several other vendors were cited after distributing the paper in Brentwood, which has caused other vendors of the newspaper to stay away from selling in the wealthy, suburban city, the suit states. Hart and Harrington also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Homeless told they can stay in city council building
The homeless of a city in the Philippines were told not to look too far for shelter and stay at a building that houses the city council while in search of a place to stay.
“If you don’t have a house, go live in the city council building,” said Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, at a rally of some 2,000 people expressing support for Mayor Sara Duterte.
She is being investigated for her involvement in a scuffle with a court sheriff who was enforcing an order to demolish a slum community. The demolition was turning ugly when angry residents put up a fight, some firing slingshots and home-made arrows. One policeman was hit in the buttock by an arrow.
Rodrigo Duterte said the assault by his daughter on the sheriff simply showed “this government is for the helpless and the defenseless.”
The people of Davao, including the business sector, also found Sara’s controversial action justifiable. “What Inday (Sara Duterte) showed was the highest form of governance,” said Sebastian Angliongto, business representative who came to the rally.
The uplifting tale of a man, his pet rabbit and a new hero for our time
"Barney and Lilly my dog are my babies," said John Byrne. "I'd do the whole thing again if it happened. If the person that threw Barney in can do that to an animal, think of what he could do to children."
A homeless man who dived into a Dublin river to save his drowning pet rabbit said he would do it all over again.
John Byrne, 38, jumped off a bridge after a man came up behind him, grabbed his beloved pet rabbit Barney and threw it into the river.
Around 200 people watched as he struggled to save his pet from being swept away, dramatically clinging onto a nearby ledge. After spending 40 minutes waiting to be rescued by emergency services, he revived Barney by giving him the kiss of life.
An 18-year-old man was charged with cruelty to animals as well as being abusive to gardai (police) at the scene.
Read the Herald.ie reports here and here. But the best read is a column by Ian O'Doherty.
Two more activists affiliated with Orlando Food Not Bombs were arrested yesterday at Lake Eola Park, bringing the total to 27.
But the city tried a new approach, issuing trespass warnings immediately after the two began hauling dishware and food into the park. OPD Officer Rich Ruth said it was obvious that they “intended” to violate the large-group feeding ordinance.
Then they were cuffed quickly after the food-sharing began, rather than plainclothes police waiting to affirm that they fed 25 individuals.
Pensacola priest cancels protest of Orlando’s homeless-feeding rule
Father Nathan Monk has decided to cancel his trip to Orlando to protest the arrests of people feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park.
He doesn't say why he changed his mind. He does says it was a "heart-wrenching decision" and that, since he announced his protest, "there have been numerous changes to the equation."
Read Father Nathan's Facebook post here. And see previous post here.
National Lawyers Guild urges Orlando to repeal ordinance restricting food sharing
The National Lawyers Guild calls on the City of Orlando to repeal its ordinance limiting groups feeding more than 25 people in parks to two permitted events a year. The Guild also urges Fort Lauderdale and other Florida municipalities to refrain from adopting similar ordinances.
“By applying the label ‘terrorist’* to people trying to feed the hungry, Mayor Dyer distorts what Food Not Bombs is doing in an attempt to demonize its members. Invoking the term ‘terrorist’ affords the government wide latitude to spy on activists, to improperly subpoena them, and to threaten increased penalties for their humanitarian endeavors. Such mislabeling imperils all of our First Amendment rights,” says NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian.
Read the complete statement here. --------------- * In June, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer called FNB members “food terrorists,” accusing them of having “different purposes” than helping the homeless. See previous post here.
Three years after a homeless man found skeletal remains in the woods, a DNA match has identified the body.
The dead man is 34-year-old Matthew Christopher Wood. Originally a Georgia resident, Wood was homeless in 2008.
On June 24, 2008, another homeless man, David Worley, was looking for cans when he found Wood's remains on a trail leading to several camps. The remains had been there for about six weeks.
The St. Johns County Medical Examiner's office could not determine a cause of death at the time because the remains were too badly decomposed. DNA evidence was submitted for a profile comparison, which recently returned the match.
Even though there were "no signs of foul play" in Wood's death, investigators want to be certain, said a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. "Now that we have an identity, what we want to do is go back in time. There could be people who know him out there. Did he have enemies? Did he just disappear before we found him?"
If you know anything about Wood, contact the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at 904-824-8304.
Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley assured advocates for homeless veterans that he will try to get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding the recent clearing out of 11 homeless camps on private property throughout the city.
He said he has heard conflicting reports from the homeless advocates and police about the removal and disposal of personal items the homeless people had in the camps.
Separately, National Veterans Homeless Support founder and President George Taylor Sr. said he plans to seek changes from the Titusville City Council to ease the restrictions on people camping and panhandling within city limits.
Read the Florida Today report here. And see previous post here.
Update on food-sharing in Orlando: hackers and court hearings
Computer hackers continued their assault on Orlando websites on Friday, attempting to disrupt the site for Orlando International Airport going into a busy travel weekend.
The hacker group Anonymous and its allies claimed to briefly disable the official airport website, but airport officials said there was never a disruption.
Meanwhile, the founder of Food Not Bombs, Keith McHenry, remains jailed after being arrested June 22. McHenry, who lives in New Mexico but came to Orlando to protest the city ordinance, was first arrested after helping distribute food, then arrested again for entering the park in defiance of a trespass warning. County Judge Kenneth Barlow rejected a plea deal, citing the fact that McHenry had violated the terms of his release from his first arrest.
In another courtroom, Food Not Bombs and the city sparred over the group's request for an injunction to stop police from arresting FNB members. Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez has not yet issued a ruling.
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