THOM & JEFF: BLOG
Thom West and Jeff Burton are your radio buddies. Every weekday during the afternoon drive, Thom & Jeff are working hard to help you laugh your way home and forget the rest of the day's B.S. Enjoy radio from a normal guy's point of view, and tune in for features like the 4:20 song and the ever-popular the Turner Upper of the Day?'.
|
show blog for today
 Posted
7/27/2010 6:33:00 PM
Celeb wrap up
Man who murdered John Lennon up for parole again
(CNN) -- John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, is up for parole for the sixth time, just months short of the 30th anniversary of the former Beatle's death.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by two members of the parole board during the week of August 9.
Four letters were submitted against Chapman's release this year, according to a representative of the New York State Division of Parole, and there were two letters in support.
The last time Chapman was up for parole, in 2008, the New York State Division of Parole issued a release saying Chapman's request was denied "due to concern for the public safety and welfare." He also was denied parole in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Chapman, 55, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Lennon outside Lennon's New York City apartment on December 8, 1980. He has served 29 years of his sentence at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility, where he is held in a building with other prisoners who are not considered to pose a threat to him, according to officials with the state Department of Correctional Services.
He has his own prison cell but spends most of his day outside the cell working on housekeeping and in the library, the officials said.
For the past 20 years he has been allowed conjugal visits with his wife, Gloria. The visits are part of a state program called "family reunion" that allows inmates to spend up to 44 hours at a time with family members in a special setting. Inmates must meet certain criteria to receive the privilege.
Chapman has not had an infraction since 1994, said Erik Kriss, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.
"He goes about his business, doing his prison job and without any fanfare," Kriss said.
Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, in previous years has submitted a letter requesting that parole be denied. Attempts to reach Ono's legal representative and publicist for comment have been unsuccessful.
------------------------------
Sports
ESPN: Sun Life Stadium one of the worst health inspection violators in pro sports by Ben Volin Would you like some slime with your frozen cocktail? How about a scoop of small insects?
All that and more has been found behind the food counter at the Dolphins’ Sun Life Stadium, which ranks among the worst in the country in food sanitation, according to a report by ESPN’s Outside the Lines.
According to official health inspection records obtained by ESPN, a whopping 93 percent of vendors at Sun Life Stadium earned “critical violations” of the health code. Among 107 NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL venues nationally, only the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg scored worse than Sun Life Stadium (both with 100 percent critical violations).
From the report on all 107 stadiums:
Sun Life Stadium
Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins
Vendors with critical violations: 93%
Inspection report excerpt: In June 2009, an employee complained anonymously that small insects and other debris were blended into frozen alcoholic beverages at a stand where equipment wasn’t being cleaned. When inspectors checked, they issued a critical violation for a buildup of slime inside the frozen drinks machine.
Officials from the Dolphins and Centerplate, the stadium’s vendor, were not immediately available for comment when reached Monday morning. The Florida Marlins and Miami Hurricanes also play home games at the stadium.
“The whole stand needs to be properly inspected before hundreds, if not thousands, of fans (are) subjected to the possibility of becoming ill,” according to the health report.
Sun Life Stadium is part of a disturbing trend — only eight stadiums in the country had more than 75 percent of their vendors making critical violations, but seven are in Florida. The Heat’s AmericanAirlines Arena also had 93 percent critical violations, and the venues for the Jaguars, Bucs, Magic and Lightning all scored over 75 percent.
According to the report, an uncorrected critical violation in Florida could result in an administrative complaint, which can include fines and eventual revocation of an establishment’s license.
The Dolphins’ violations, though, appear much worse than those of their NFL counterparts in Florida. The Buccaneers, with 84 percent vendor violations, were cited for “chicken tenders not being cooked to the required 165 degrees.” The Jaguars, with 77 percent vendor violations, were cited for “at least 11 locations cited for holding hot food at temperatures below 135 degrees, causing potential bacterial growth.”
Officials from the Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium deferred comment to Centerplate, the stadium’s food vendor.
“Centerplate takes the topic of food safety and the well-being of our fans seriously, and works with the local health department to actively manage safe food service operations,” spokesman Bob Pascal said in a statement. “The Florida state health department system has a rigorous and stringent approach to inspections, and evaluates stadiums based on whether they have met standards for safe operation–which Sun Life Stadium has done in 100 percent of its inspection reports for 2009
Jenn Meale, spokeswoman for Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulations, confirmed that despite the number of violations, the stadium has passed all health inspections.
When a food establishment commits a critical violation, a term coined by the Food and Drug Administration, it simply means the establishment must fix the violation by the time of the next random health inspection.
“It is not unusual for a restaurant to have critical violations and also meet inspection standards and be perfectly safe for the public,” Meale said Monday. “It can be a good thing actually, that they find these violations and then the vendors correct them.”
----
Naked Family
Mom, kids found walking street naked
By Jennifer Baker • jbaker@enquirer.com • July 27, 2010
NORTH FAIRMOUNT – Cincinnati police said they are investigating after a mother and her two children were found walking naked along a street on Monday night.
The family was spotted on Westwood Northern Boulevard near McHenry Avenue in North Fairmount, police said.
When officers approached the woman, she argued with police and appeared to be distraught. She was taken to University Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, police said.
The children, ages 3 and 8, are staying with other relatives while their mother remains at University Hospital, said Brian Gregg, spokesman for Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services.
Police said they are still looking into why the family was walking on the street naked
-------
E-Coli = Poo
July 24, 2010 -- Doris Abernathy of Berkeley ignores "Swim at your own risk" signs in Kiefer Creek at Castlewood State Park, cooling off with a friend and other bathers. For years, state and local officials have known about the high E. coli levels in the creek, a popular swimming hole, but because it is not classified as a designated swimming area -- but as an urban stream -- DNR officials claim they can do little to keep people out of the water. "If it's a health hazard, then I wouldn't be in here," said Abernathy.
The creek forms a pool at a concrete bridge, and on most days, the water is so clear, you can see the rocky bottom 4 feet below the surface.
It's an inviting respite from the heat after a hike through Castlewood State Park, in St. Louis County just south of Ballwin. Thirsty dogs lap up the waters of Kiefer Creek. When the temperature rises, mothers wade in with their children. Teenagers drift lazily in the gentle current.
But while the popular swimming hole is no more than 20 yards in diameter, the question lately is just how safe it is to wade into the water.
A monitoring station about a half-mile upstream has for years has registered high levels of E. coli, bacteria that can cause symptoms similar to food poisoning.
"There are times when it (the creek) is OK. There are times when it's not," said Robert Criss, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University who has studied urban streams in St. Louis County. "It's not easy to tell those apart."
Just a few months ago, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources put up a sign warning "Caution — Swim at Your Own Risk."
This week, the nonprofit Missouri Coalition for the Environment will submit a report to state regulators, urging them to put the creek on a list of Missouri's most polluted waters and make it eligible for federal cleanup money.
"This is in a park with half a million visitors a year," said Lorin Crandall, clean water coordinator for the coalition.
The issue of E. coli in state waters has received its share of attention recently. Last year, Gov. Jay Nixon was dogged by criticism that members of his administration covered up tests showing elevated levels of E. coli at the Lake of the Ozarks.
But Kiefer Creek is a different situation. State officials note that because the creek is not a designated swimming area, the state isn't required to monitor the water quality. The Department of Natural Resources only knows about the E. coli in Kiefer Creek because the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District monitors it.
Judd Slivka, a DNR spokesman, said it would be nearly impossible to keep people out of the water. The sign the department has posted warns that the creek may contain "unacceptable bacteria," among other hazardous conditions.
"That's not out of the norm for what many states do," Slivka said.
But whether the state classifies it as such or not, the creek is indeed a 'swimming area," said Criss of Washington University.
"It's a state park with people in the water," Criss said. "Only a dang attorney would say, 'We don't care because it's not on our list.'"
MSD takes a few water samples a year, and the results have varied over the years. Last year — the most recent for which data were available — the monitoring station on two occasions found levels of E. coli higher than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for full body contact.
E. coli bacteria can often be harmless, but some strains cause cramps, diarrhea or intestinal illnesses. E. coli is spread through contact with water or food contaminated with animal feces.
No one is quite sure what's causing the contamination in Kiefer Creek. Some people suspect that the septic tanks of older homes in the area have failed and are leaking into the water. Another cause could be wildlife in the park, or even horses and pets.
MSD spokesman Lance LeComb said the agency monitors the creek so it can have a better understanding of how development is affecting water quality. MSD makes the data available to anyone who asks.
Crandall, of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said it's unlikely the MSD data would have come to light if not for Steve Seyer, a Manchester resident.
Seyer used to run through the park with his giant schnauzer, Dolphus, two or three times week. After the jogs, Dolphus would cool off in the creek. Seyer says that about three years ago, his dog developed polyps on his back and had a black discharge from his eyes. When Seyer stopped letting his dog go in the water, Dolphus recovered.
About a year later, Seyer ran across the MSD water monitoring station about a half-mile from where Dolphus used to swim and soon tracked down the data.
Some samples over the years revealed levels of E. coli more than 10 times higher than those found in the Lake of the Ozarks last year. When he saw the data, Seyer said, he thought, "Gosh, that's what's killing my dog."
Seyer lobbied state and local officials to clean up the creek and warn people about the water.
"Everybody was shrugging their shoulders, saying, 'It's not my responsibility,'" Seyer said.
Eventually, the Department of Natural Resources agreed to put up the sign. But Seyer says it isn't specific enough.
"We need a sign that says frequent high levels of contamination," he said.
Nearly every time he jogs through the park now, Seyer sees people swimming in the creek and tries to warn them.
"You look at that stream, and it looks like something you would want to jump into," he said. "It's not."
People who swam in the water in recent days said they were not too concerned.
Mary Lou Auton of Ballwin brought her 12-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old friend to enjoy the creek on Monday. Her husband, Jeff, her son and neighbors went hiking in the park.
"My oldest son is 20, and we have been doing this for at least 15 years, and we've never gotten sick," Auton said. "When you come down here on the weekend, this place is packed."
Shannon Buehrle, 31, of Ballwin, brought her two kids and a niece to splash around. She was aware of the creek's hazard but was not worried.
"We go to the Lake of the Ozarks all of the time, and that water doesn't bother us," Buehrle said. "As long as my kids don't drink the water, it's OK."
Denise Hollinshed of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
--------------------
Basil for Gov.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvaeHllwtw
|
|
Jeff Burton
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|