Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 09/26/2014 1:48 PM | Comments:

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Mayoral candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette has announced a plan to fund sewage treatment plant upgrades. Photo Store

Mayoral candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette says hell issue bonds and stake a share of an expanded container environmental levy to pay for needed upgrades to the citys sewage treatment plants.

Ouellette said Winnipeg has a responsibility to stop dumping pollutants into the Red River that threaten Lake Winnipeg.

"A sustainable city is about making the most of scarce resources," Ouellette said Friday morning during a news event on the lawn of the North End sewage treatment plant. "Ultimately, our goal should be to be as environmentally efficient as we can."

Ouellette outlined a complex plan to pay for the treatment plant upgrades: hell convince the province and the container industry to increase the levy on disposable drink containers from two cents to 10 cents, with five cents being a refundable deposit, two cents continuing to go to the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association and the remaining three cents going to the citys new environment fund.

Ouellette said he expects the expanded levy would generate $7-$12 million annually, which would be used first to pay off upgrades at the sewage treatment plants, and later would be used for other environmental programs.

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Ouellette plans to fund sewage plant upgrades with bonds, expanded levy

KISSIMMEE, Fla.

A homeowners association threatened legal action against a Kissimmee family who put a statue of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on their front lawn.

Stephen Guschov is an attorney representing the couple that lives in Shingle Creek Reserve in Kissimmee.

Our clients arent asking for any special treatment, he said.

Guschov said the couple applied with their HOA to put the religious statues in their front yard, but they were denied.

When they left them in the yard, the HOA threatened a lawsuit, even though we drove around the neighborhood and found several homes with much larger statues.

If the homeowners association wants to allow yard decor, then they allow topless statues and frogs and rabbits and cherubs and everything else, then you cant say no to religious statues such as the Virgin Mary, he said.

Channel 9 reporter Deneige Broom spoke to a woman who brought her mothers statue with her from Italy when she moved into the neighborhood in 2011.

She said the HOA told her she didnt need to apply to have her statue, but about a month ago she got a notice saying her statue was unauthorized.

Her letter didnt come until after the couples battle.

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Kissimmee HOA lets couple keep religious statues

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A Queens newspaper publisher was arrested Thursday after an altercation with her neighbor led her to drive her car into a tree on his lawn, police said Monday.

Patricia Adams, 55, who runs The Forum, screamed, cursed and flailed her arms as officers tried to handcuff her in front of her Howard Beach home about 10 p.m., authorities said.

Do you know who the f--- I am? I run The Forum, Im going to have your job. F--- you, Adams told cops, according to a criminal complaint.

But Adams, who claims her neighbor had been harassing her for months, said the police report was mostly false.

Im not a person who looks for special treatment, which is why I resent what was in that report, she said. Im gonna have your job. I never said that! I never said one blessed word that Im going to have your job!

Adams said she introduced herself, telling cops she has been serving this precinct and community for 20 years.

Her car never got near her neighbors lawn, she said.

Im not a thug, Adams said. I will beware not to believe everything I read in a criminal complaint.

The weekly newspaper publisher said the neighbor had boxed her car into her driveway with five garbage cans Thursday, which started the argument.

She was taken to the 106th Precinct stationhouse and then to Central Booking, where she spent the rest of the night and much of the following day, getting out at 5 p.m. on Friday.

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Queens newspaper publisher arrested after spat with neighbor

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Following an embarrassing security breach at the White House, one of the most closely protected buildings in the world, the Secret Service is said to be considering establishing new checkpoints to screen tourists in public areas near the presidential mansion.

Meanwhile, the man accused of scaling a security fence and getting into the president's home carrying a knife is scheduled to have his initial appearance Monday in federal court.

Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, is facing charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon. The Army says Gonzalez served from 1997 until his discharge in 2003, and again from 2005 to December 2012, when he retired due to disability.

The Secret Service tightened its guard outside the White House after Friday's security breach. Gonzalez is accused of scaling the White House perimeter fence, sprinting across the lawn and entering the building before agents could stop him.

President Barack Obama and his family were away at the time. Obama says he still has confidence in the troubled agency's ability to protect him and his family.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has ordered increased surveillance and more officer patrols, and has begun an investigation into what went wrong.

The Secret Service is conducting preliminary discussions about setting up security screening checkpoints near public areas around the White House, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Sunday. The official insisted on anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss internal deliberations by name. The official said the measures had been discussed previously, but the talks have taken on added urgency.

The breach triggered a rare evacuation of much of the White House. Secret Service agents drew their weapons as they hurried White House staffers and journalists out of the West Wing through a side door.

Officials first said the fact that Gonzalez appeared to be unarmed may have been a factor in why agents at the scene didn't shoot or have their dogs pursue him before he made it inside. But a criminal complaint issued late Friday revealed Gonzalez had a small folding knife with a 3-inch serrated blade with him at the time of his arrest.

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Accused White House intruder to appear in court - NBC40.net

By BETSY BLANEY and JOSH LEDERMAN Associated Press

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) - An Iraq war veteran accused of scaling a fence and making it into the White House before the Secret Service stopped him posed no threat to anyone and needs counseling instead of prosecution, members of his family said Sunday.

Omar Gonzalez, 42, was arrested Friday and is expected in federal court Monday to face charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon - a small folding knife in this case.

Jerry Murphy, whose mother was married to Gonzalez for several years, said Gonzalez suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that he needs treatment. He said Gonzalez has been driving around the country and living out of his truck for the past couple of years, and that he always carries his knife.

"I know he's got heavy artillery, you know?" Murphy added. "He's got all kinds of weapons and he was trained to use them. I believe if he wanted to make a scene or cause problems, he very well could have. But it's clear that he didn't."

The Secret Service has come under heavy criticism since the embarrassing security breach, which happened when the first family wasn't at the White House. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson ordered increased surveillance and more officer patrols at the White House, as the agency investigates what went wrong.

The Army said Gonzalez enlisted in July 1997 and remained until completing his service obligation in September 2003. He reenlisted in July 2005 and served until his retirement in late 2012, serving in Iraq from October 2006 to January 2008.

The military does not provide details about a soldier's disability due to privacy considerations. But Samantha Bell, who is Gonzalez's ex-wife and Murphy's mother, said Gonzalez was honorably discharged for medical reasons and suffered from plantar fasciitis on his feet, on which he had had some surgeries. She said he also suffered from PTSD, for which he had been prescribed several medications.

Bell said she and Gonzalez married in 2006 and lived together in Copperas Cove, near Fort Hood, until she split up with him in 2010 because of his worsening mental condition. After his second tour in Iraq, Gonzalez began carrying a .45 on his hip at all times and kept three or four rifles and shotguns behind the doors in their home, said Bell, who remarried and now lives in southern Indiana.

She said Gonzalez kept the blinds drawn and would repeatedly go downstairs during the night to make sure the doors were locked and the oven was off. She said she once woke up in the middle of the night to find Gonzalez standing at the foot of the bed and staring at her. She said he told her he was simply watching her sleep.

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Relatives: Vet arrested at White House needs help - NBC40.net

Q. What is the best time to fertilize the lawn? What is the best fertilizer to use? How much do I need to apply?

A. In todays world, everyone wants to know what the best choice for anything. Part of our job as extension educators is to give unbiased information based on research. Therefore, we offer choices and will not recommend certain products over others.

One needs to realize the garden and landscape are not static. Plants use nutrients throughout the growing season. These nutrients must be replaced for plants to do well.

The three plant nutrients that are most necessary for plant growth are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. In the 1800s, Justus Von Liebig conducted research that established this Law of the Minimum essential elements necessary for healthy plants.

12-12-12 fertilizer is a balanced fertilizer that contains 12 percent nitrogen, 12 percent phosphorous and 12 percent potassium (listed in order) that are present in the bag. Notice the percentages do not add up to 100 percent. Fillers are added so that the nutrients in the bag can be applied more evenly to the lawn.

Nitrogen is the most limiting element for plant growth. This is because chlorophyll and many amino acids and proteins within the plant and vital for plant growth contain nitrogen. Nitrogen leaches readily into water and can be carried away before the plant can use it.

Phosphorous is not as mobile. It is vital for the plant to convert the sugar it makes into energy for plant processes. This energy is necessary for the plant to grow in particular, grow roots.

Potassium is sometimes ignored as not being as important as the other two elements. Potassium is vital to control the small pores that regulate water flow from the roots to the leaves; so it is important for the plants ability to withstand drought. It has also been linked with winter hardiness in plants.

Apply a balanced fertilizer in mid- to late September. Then use a fertilizer with a higher first number (nitrogen) in mid-October to early November. Research shows that the nitrogen in the late fertilizer treatment is stored by the plant over the winter and is partitioned for root growth in the spring.

Folks can also use organic fertilizer. Keep in mind that most organic fertilizers contains lower amounts of the big three so more product must be used for the lawn to receive the nutrients it needs. However, some would argue that the microorganisms present in some organic fertilizers makes up for the difference in lower analysis. I often just spread fresh compost on my small lawn. I shovel it out so I can still see the grass but I do not completely bury the grass blades.

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Fertilizer helps lawn for winter

A group of women from a Washington treatment program helped kick off the annual Rally for Recovery on the Great Lawn Saturday morning.

It was a chance for recovering addicts to celebrate their sobriety with friends and family, and participate in a walk across the Big Four Bridge.

Mayor Greg Fischer attended the rally, along with the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli.

He's been sober for 26 years and said the stigma surrounding addicts must end.

"Putting a face on the disease of addiction and telling our stories is an important part of recovery month. It is why we are here today, to say that we won't remain and accept the shame too often associated with our disease," said Botticelli.

September is National Recovery Month, marking 25 years since its creation.

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Recovering addicts celebrate recovery at downtown event

By Frank Vaisvilas Correspondent September 17, 2014 5:06PM

The Lucchese family, including (pictured left to right) mother, Courtney, 2-year-old Anika, 1-year-old Vinnie and father Giuseppe. | Supplied photo

storyidforme: 72093689 tmspicid: 25316968 fileheaderid: 12823481

Updated: September 18, 2014 2:20AM

A fundraiser to benefit a Rockford family whose baby boy was born with a rare combination of three congenital heart defects will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Oak Lawn, 9514 S. 52 Ave., on Sunday.

The event is being organized in part by Brian Bleakley, who met the family while they were all staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn, which provides lodging for families whose children are undergoing treatment at Advocate Childrens Hospital.

Bleakleys sons were born premature, and he said the Lucchese family had been welcoming and kind to his family even though their son, Vincent, had been undergoing several open heart surgeries.

Bleakley said he saw how heavily burdened the family was financially with expenses adding up, such as gas money to travel between Rockford and Oak Lawn and cellphone bills.

Still worse, Vincents father, Giuseppe Lucchese, recently had lost his job because of the days he missed caring for his son.

It just kind of tugged on our hearts that they didnt have the resources to keep them together, Bleakley said. These are really good people.

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Fundraiser set for sick babys family at Oak Lawn VFW

A man mowing his lawn was injured Wednesday after a Davenport Police squad was pushed into the man after it was struck broadside by another car, police said.

The Iowa State Patrol is investigating the crash that occurred at 5:59 p.m. at the intersection of Division and Lombard streets.

The Davenport squad car was southbound on Division Street in the inside lane when the driver of a vehicle heading west on Lombard Street proceeded through the stop sign at the intersection, police said.

The police squad was hit on the driver's side, even as the officer tried to avoid the crash by moving to the outside southbound lane.

Police said the impact sent the squad into a fire hydrant, knocking it off its mounts. The squad then struck a man who had been mowing his lawn.

The injured man, Jeff Hartman, 44, was taken to Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street, Davenport, to be treated for his injuries that police said were non-life-threatening, but still relatively serious. His condition was not available late Wednesday.

The officer went to Genesis Medical Center-West Lombard Street, Davenport, for examination.

Lynn Hauser, 69, driver of the car that struck the squad, refused treatment and remained at the scene with the Iowa State Patrol.

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Davenport squad car T-boned, pushed into man mowing lawn