Two Orangeburg County property owners complained to county council members about citations theyd received from Litter Control officers.

The property owners agreed that litter such as trash and garbage should be addressed throughout the county. However, they think Litter Control officers went a bit too far by writing citations for not mowing grass.

Ann Sutcliffe addressed council Tuesday about citations she received last fall from Litter Control. It was her second time bringing the issue before council.

Sutcliffe explained that shed received tickets from Orangeburg County Litter Control stating that she needed to cut two acres of grass that had grown too high.

Theyre telling me Ive got to clear two acres of property. Its not trash. Its not garbage. I can understand that. Its trees and underbrush, she said as she distributed photographs of the property in question and a nearby property she said is in the same condition as hers.

Is this going to be enforced on all property owners or are you going to pick and choose? she asked council.

I think Ive been singled out, she said.

Sutcliffe also said shed heard that the states Department of Health and Environmental Control would visit the property with infrared (equipment) to see if Id buried the garbage.

I did not bury the garbage, she said.

Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith, who represents the council district where the property is located, said she wants to hear from Litter Control to get its side of the story too.

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Orangeburg County Council pledges fair treatment following litter control complaints

A new lawsuit is filed against the Chicago Archdiocese on behalf of three people who say they were sexually abused as children.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Court alleges Norbert Maday molested three boys as part of a tag team with a scout leader who volunteered under the priests supervision.

The men who brought the legal action also accuse the Archdiocese of Chicago of failing to protect them more than 40 years ago during the abuse.

The unnamed plaintiffs, all in their 50s, said the legal action was sparked after media accounts in recent years revealed the churchs troubled past of responding to pedophile priests.

Maday is accused in the lawsuit of inappropriately touching all three boys in separate acts from 1967 to 1973 while he was at St. Leo Catholic Church in Chicago and, later, at St Louis de Montfort in Oak Lawn.

Two of the men said they also were fondled by Thomas Hacker, a former Boy Scout leader and volunteer at the Oak Lawn church in the early 1970s, who often accompanied them on parish retreats.

In an interview at his lawyer's office, a 52-year-old south suburban man identified as John Doe 3 said Maday seemed to target boys like him at St. Louis de Montfort, who were being raised by single mothers.

The man told the Tribune he was inappropriately touched by both Maday and Hacker as a preteen during car rides, gym class and parish outings. He said he eventually told his mother, who confronted the parish school principal, but Maday remained in ministry.

The man said he overcame years of substance abuse and depression and remains in counseling. He has not returned to the Catholic church since he was young.

It's hard to grasp that someone who you think is in God's word would take advantage of a child's innocence, said the man, who asked not to be named publicly. That's something that cuts me real deep. Officials at the archdiocese said they had not seen the lawsuit and did not have a response.

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Lawsuit: 'Tag team' of former priest, ex-scout leader molested kids

Riverside, CA (PRWEB) January 23, 2014

Gopher Patrol recently announced that same day service is now available for new customers in the city of Riverside. Time is critical when dealing with gophers. Within a matter of hours a gopher can cause extensive damage to your lawn. "We saw that there was a serious concern in the city of Riverside with gophers," states Richard Hernandez, Service Manager at Gopher Patrol, "so we knew we had to take action." Finding a experienced gopher exterminator is not an easy task, getting them out quickly is even more difficult. Gopher Patrol saw that Riverside was in urgent need of quick service and set out to help by making same day service a possibility in Riverside. Gopher Control has become a serious concern in Riverside. Gophers can cause damage to properties, undermine foundations and cause serious damage to hillsides and slopes. Gopher Patrol has been serving Southern California for over 17 years and recently won the Angie's List Super Service Award for the 2nd year straight in the Animal Control category and won their first Angie's List Super Service Award in the Pest Control/Extermination category. "We make every effort to get out the same day, and in most cases we can if contacted early enough in the day. If we can't make it, we will definitely be out the very next day. Less than 24 hours from the time of the call is our goal, and so far we have been able to make that goal, and our customers are very happy that we can do that now," states Richard.

Gopher Patrol has been under the same ownership since 1996 when they opened for business. They are fully licensed and all their technicians are licensed and registered with the DOJ. For more information on how Gopher Patrol can help you can visit their website at gopherpatrol.com or you can fill out their schedule and appointment form online and a Gopher Patrol representative can get back to you same day. Gopher Patrol is available Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm and on Saturdays from 9am-2pm. You can reach them at 1-888-466-4674 or locally at 1-951-689-8200.

Gopher control has been Gopher Patrols main business for their 17 years in service. Most of the methods and treatment schedules we're perfected by Gopher Patrol. "17 years ago you couldn't find a company that knew how to treat for gophers," Richard states, "We saw a serious need for gopher control and took the challenge, now we see another challenge, same day service, and happily take that challenge too."

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Gopher Patrol Now Offering Same Day Gopher Control Service in Riverside

As many as 8,000 residential properties in Cook County, including 4,000 in Chicago, have been in foreclosure for at least three years without resolution, new data show, a situation that could further deteriorate already scarred communities.

Many of those properties that seem to get stuck or abandoned in the foreclosure process are in lower-income areas where annual household income is $49,000 or less, according to a study by Woodstock Institute.

Some of the at-risk houses, condos and apartment buildings are vacant, and the lenders have likely abandoned the foreclosure cases. Some continue to be inhabited while in foreclosure. Others are still in foreclosure while lenders consider short sales.

"You're stuck in this situation where nobody really has a long-term interest in the property," said Spencer Cowan, a vice president at the Chicago-based public policy and research group and one of the report's authors. "The titleholder knows it may be taken at any time. The servicer doesn't own it and may never own it. They may release the lien or just let it sit."

Mortgage servicers filed foreclosure cases against about 228,400 houses, condos and apartment buildings in Cook County between 2008 and 2012, according to Woodstock. Its research, though, looked only at the roughly 135,000 cases filed between 2008 and 2010 because of the long time it typically takes to process a foreclosure case through the county's court system.

Sixty percent of those cases studied completed the foreclosure process and were sold at auction between 2009 and 2012. The majority become bank-owned. An additional 34 percent were resolved in another way, such as through a mortgage loan modification, a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The remaining 6 percent remained stuck in foreclosure three years after the original court case was filed, Woodstock concluded.

The study also found that in addition to the different treatment based on household income, properties in areas with a higher percentage of nonwhite residents were more likely to be sold at auction.

"Properties that went into foreclosure in lower-minority tracts seem to have had more alternative resolutions than properties in tracts with higher minority populations," Cowan said.

Woodstock's research used a random sample of 500 properties and extrapolated the findings based on the region's income distribution.

It estimated that nine of Chicago's 77 community areas contain more than 100 unresolved foreclosure cases. Most are those are in neighborhoods that bore the brunt of the city's foreclosure crisis. They are Ashburn, Austin, Belmont Cragin, Chicago Lawn, Humboldt Park, the Near North Side, Portage Park, Roseland and West Ridge.

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Unresolved foreclosure cases pile up in Cook County

T.J. Thompson, chair of Safe Access Virginia, the newly formed state chapter of Americans for Safe Access, the national group advocating for medical cannabis (it prefers the "scientific" term over marijuana), will be leading a lobbying effort in Richmond on Monday, Jan. 20.

Twenty two states now have medical cannabis laws on the books. Since 1979, Virginia Code has also included a statute: "Possession or distribution of marijuana for medical purposes permitted ... for treatment of cancer or glaucoma."

Washington D.C. is an example of how the latter works, as in 2010 its Health Department was tasked with overseeing the creation of eight medical 'dispensaries' to supply authorized individuals.

In Virginia, there's also a backlash, and on Monday, HB 684, sponsored by Del. Robert G. "Bob" Marshall, will be heard in the House Courts of Justice Sub-committee. The bill would "amend and appeal" Virginia' statute "relating to prescribing marijuana as medicine" and would make it so that "no practitioner of medicine ... shall prescribe, dispense, administer, or cause to be administered marijuana."

"We don't want to go backwards," said Thompson, a Chesapeake resident and military veteran. He cites research showing the efficacy of cannabis for a number of conditions, including chronic pain, nausea, spasticity and movement disorders.

The Safe Access group also has a draft "Virginia Medical Cannabis Act" at the ready but has not yet found a sponsor for it.

The group will meet on the Capitol lawn at 9:30 a.m. before meeting with lawmakers.

For more health news, go to http://www.dailypress.com/health

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Medical marijuana lobbyists will be in Richmond on Monday, Jan. 20

The death of Richard Davis at Southwell in 1996 was a turning point. All racecourses became equipped with ambulances and doctors specifically trained in the injuries they were likely to encounter on the racecourse. We can expect the same treatment if we fall at Cheltenham during the Festival or Fontwell on a Friday.

When he started, it had not been long since the role of racecourse doctor was virtually honorary and seen as a good job and a free lunch for a retired GP. Now there are nearly 250 fully trained racecourse medical officers who are retrained every three years.

Improving the standard of helmets and body protectors has also been an obsession for him so, although it is still an inherently dangerous profession, it is much safer than it was on his arrival; he has ensured we are fit and healthy, riding in the safest equipment and with the best medical support if we get injured.

Also near the top of the list of his achievements was his introduction of stringent concussion protocol in 2004, 10 years ahead of the Rugby Football Union, and he will now use his experience to set up the National Concussive Head Injury Centre in London which, hopefully, will also have further benefits for jockeys.

When the BHA get a new man for the job, it is essential he has a great interest in the sport and in us. That is half the battle and the new chief medical officer should not regard it as just a job. He has some big boots to fill.

Taquin De Seuil (1.30) is the reason I am at Haydock on Saturday and I am hoping he will be hard to beat in the two-mile-five-furlong novice chase. Certainly, if he wants to go to the Cheltenham Festival, he needs to be winning. He will not mind the ground or the track so neither of those will be excuses. Gevrey Chambertin, winner of a fixed brush race at Haydock last time, gets 7lb from us and is a danger and I rode Ofaolains Boy on his chasing debut and he will improve.

Champagne Rian (12.20) looks to have as good a chance as any in a handicap hurdle but Act of Kalanisi (2.40), winner of his last two and a soft-ground lover, looks like he has a tough job on his hands to beat both the former smart novice Melodic Rendezvous and Ptit Zig in the Champion Hurdle Trial.

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Tony McCoy: Farewell to Dr Michael Turner, the man who saved us from ourselves

Lawn care is very essential for any type of lawn or garden as the lawn in a house is the place that adds fresh sir to the house. It also rejuvenates the mood ofthe people if it is clean and well maintained. But unfortunately, people these days have started neglecting their lawns due to busy schedule as well as hectic life. Thus it is advised to go with an effective company in Virginia Beach for Lawn care.

There are different types of companies that offer their lawn care services to their clients these days. Most of these companies offer the services that are related with maintenance as well as they also offer different types of agronomic programs to their clients. It is highly advised to settle on a particular kind of service before you choose a particular maintenance company for your lawn. In general there is a huge range of tools as well as techniques that are used by these services. It is seen many a times that the people do not know what exactly has happened to their lawn that is the reason that you must seek for a genuine advice from a professional that offers different types of lawn care services. He would thoroughly inspect your lawn and provide the garden with a suitable treatment. One can browse through the various services offered by these companies from the official website of these lawn care service companies.

There are different types of lawn care packages that are delivered by these companies.

There are different types of services available and the customer has the freedom to choose the one that suits his needs the best. These services could be availed daily, weekly or even yearly as that depends upon the care and treatment that is needed by your lawn.

The price of the company that you have chosen for yourself must be competitive enough. There are many false companies that charge extra high prices that are absolutely not fair. You must cross check the prices of the company that you have chosen for yourself from the other companies of the same expertise.

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Lawn Care: Essential for a beautiful and flawless garden

Free Sign Up CP Newsletter! Related Veterans Group Wants Congressional hearing on VA Dept.'s Alleged Religious Liberty Violations Police Chief Refuses to Remove Cross From Lawn Following Atheist Complaint in Ark. Mark Driscoll Fires Up His Detractors, Social Media-Minded Christians With 'Going to Hell' Tweet

January 16, 2014|10:12 am

An atheist organization has taken up the cause of a Florida man who has complained for several years that the display of a Bible in one city council's chambers is a violation of the Constitution.

Randy Heine, the owner of Rockin Cards and Gifts in Pinellas Park, Fla., told The Christian Post he was "stonewalled" by city officials when he tried to have the Bible removed from the dais in the city council chambers back in 2005. He could not afford to take legal action against the city, he says, so his mission was put on hold.

In June 2013 he reached out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an organization that promotes the separation of church and state of which he is also a member, to share his concern.

An FFRF staff attorney sent a letter to Pinellas Park Mayor Sandra Bradbury shortly after claiming that, among other things, displaying the Bible is a government endorsement of religion and is therefore unconstitutional.

"No legitimate purpose is served by having a bible [sic] on the dais. Its presenceonly appears to express approval of its contents and of Christianity," wrote FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel.

Seidel told CP his organization sent several follow-up letters to the city, including one sent earlier this week, but city officials have not yet responded. The city has, however, worked with FFRF on an open records request that was included with the first letter.

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Several federal courts have declared that displaying the Bible on government property is a violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, he says. He also says he hopes city leaders will see that they can still exercise their beliefs privately and that FFRF is concerned with protecting the First Amendment.

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Atheist Group Challenges Bible Display at Fla. City Hall, Calls It a Violation of the US Constitution

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1926 5th Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403 - Video

Lawn Care tips Topeka - Kansas City / Turf diseases TooGreen Lawn Care LLC
Jeremy of TooGreen Lawn Care LLC Topeka - Kansas City Kansas metro areas. Gives free lawn care tips. This video is about turf diseases in Kansas. TooGreen La...

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Lawn Care tips Topeka - Kansas City / Turf diseases TooGreen Lawn Care LLC - Video