morning time - Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009
local news and features
Drive-by shooting in downtown Seattle hospitalizes homeless man
Seattle gang detectives are investigating the shooting of a homeless man at a bus stop outside Benaroya Hall on Thursday night.
Benaroya Hall, folks, is right in downtown where the rich folks go to see concerts and such. Bill Cosby was there back in November. a lot of the major city bus routes stop there, and its across the street from the post office where i get my general delivery mail.
A man who was shot in the face outside of Seattle's Benaroya Hall on Thursday night may not have been the intended target, police said.
The victim, who police described as a homeless man in his 40s, was shot once in the face by someone inside a moving car just before 11 p.m. near Third Avenue and Union Street.
Officers who responded to the shooting found the victim lying on the sidewalk, said police spokeswoman Renee Witt. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries.
The man was listed in serious condition Friday in the intensive-care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
witnesses said a group of young men, who ran off, seemed to be involved in the incident, Witt said. One of the men from that group later returned to the scene and was detained and interviewed by gang detectives.
Witt couldn't say if the victim may have been an innocent bystander.
"We don't know if he was the intended target," she said.
With drive by shootings, anyone within shooting distance is an intended target.
ya think that was bad, get a load of this:
600 rescued dogs and 80% are pregnant
After authorities seized nearly 600 dogs in raids in two counties over the past week, the number is only expected to climb higher since most of the animals are pregnant and the puppies just keep coming. (no pun intended)
The Everett Animal Shelter is presently caring for 155 of almost 600 dogs seized from an alleged puppy-mill operation. A rescued poodle looks Friday for a little attention through the fence of her kennel. Everett is just a lil bit north of Seattle, take the Community Transit bus for $2.50, its a 2 hour bus ride!
"We've already had two litters born," said Bud Wessman, director of Everett Animal Services, which is caring for 155 dogs seized from a Snohomish County property on Jan. 16. "We have six that will give birth over the weekend and probably another 10 litters coming up in the next week."
The Snohomish County property has been linked to another property in Skagit County, where authorities seized another 135 dogs on Wednesday and returned Friday to seize the remaining 308. The owner of the Skagit County property, near Mount Vernon, is the mother of the woman who owns the Snohomish County property near Gold Bar.
The dog seizures in both counties have animal-control officials struggling to care for the crush of animals. Officials estimate about 80 percent of the 598 dogs are pregnant.
According to Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt of the Skagit County Sheriff's Office, investigators believe a puppy mill was being run primarily out of the five-acre Skagit County property in the 16000 block of Mountain View Road under the name Mountain View Kennel.
The first batch of approximately 135 dogs was seized from Mountain View Kennel during the Wednesday raid. Those dogs � sick, matted, standing in their own feces and left without food and water � were deemed to be in need of immediate medical care, he said.
The second batch of 308 dogs was taken from the property on Friday after authorities determined they might be infected with a potentially deadly intestinal parasite, Reichardt said.
Most of the dogs taken from that property are being sheltered at the Skagit County Fairgrounds although some have been placed in foster homes, Reichardt said.
In the related raid in Snohomish County last week, deputies and animal-control officers rescued 155 dogs that were sick, filthy and covered with fleas, according to Snohomish County license manager Vicki Lubrin. Those animals are at the Everett Animal Shelter, she said.
According to Lubrin, the dogs were typically bred at the Gold Bar and Skagit County properties.
The dogs were sold from a third family property in the city of Snohomish, which was described as a "nice country house," according to Paula Helinski, who lives near the family's Skagit County property and has spent years collecting documents to expose the alleged puppy mill. Dogs also were sold through an Internet site called Wags & Wiggles Teacups, she said.
Authorities raided the Snohomish property on Jan. 16 and found 44 dogs. Although the number was in violation of the kennel permit, the dogs were left behind because they appeared to be in good shape, Lubrin said.
Law-enforcement and animal-control officers in the two counties say they are working together to investigate the case and that they expect animal-cruelty charges to be filed against the owners.
At the Skagit County Fairgrounds on Friday, an army of animal-control officers, sheriff's deputies, rescue activists and volunteers worked to transport, sort, clean, bathe and medicate the animals.
It will take some time before the animals' fate is known, said Wessman, the director of Everett Animal Services.
According to Wessman, the dogs' owners have 15 days to either surrender the animals to the counties or post a bond that would cover the medical and boarding costs for the animals for the duration of their stay in the shelter, which, if criminal charges are filed, could be lengthy.
If they are turned over to the counties, Wessman said, the animals will have to give birth and then be spayed.
Wessman said he has spoken with officials from the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine about having the animals spayed and neutered en masse by students. He said this could be a great solution for the animals and a good learning experience for the students.
After that, a mass adopt-a-thon could be scheduled. He said the Academy of Canine Behavior in Bothell has offered to host one when the time is right, he said.
He and officials in Skagit County warn that it could take some time to restore the animals to health and prepare them to be fostered or adopted out.
NOW if that aint fucked up, i dont know what is!
aw, i just hadda put that comic strip in here, im not knocking our president, this just shows that the idea that President Obama is "the second coming of Christ!!" is just off the wall!! and besides i thought it was funny!! but ya know, people say to me, "everytime you THINK, you weaken the nation!" hahaha!!!
THANKY YOUS to all of yous who commented on my crap from yesterday. i have to admit, it hurt at first, but then i realised that 1. i dont know the person who commented. and 2. she apparently is a new reader and being from the east coast, has that "east coast attitude". now just before some of you good readers from the east coast get all inna huff and tell me "fuck you too!" NOT ALL east coasters have the "east coast attitude"!
heres a linky from the new york times from yesterday that is just hilariously funny!! stepfordtart, you should know about this!!! hahahaha!!! (click the word "linky" to see it!!! its fun for the whole family! well, not really!
well, thats all the saturday crap i have from here! make ya a snidey comment now, and if you SERIOUSLY tell me "fuck you" i will BLAST YOUR ASS right here in my blog! remember, when i say "snidey comment" i dont mean it literally, its just a gag! RESPONSIBLE free speech is practiced here no comments are removed from here until a while from now when i get around to halo scram to delete em! so, there! neener neener neener!
hava slap happy saturday AND sunday. i wont be online here tomorrow im going to CHURCH! (relax, its just to eat breakfast!) but, if i get around to the library, i might if i have time, to post some shit or something!
oh hay! b4 i get outta here, have you seen my DIARYLAND TRADING CARD!?? click the linky here, or up above! i think its a hoot! i got the idea from my faithful pal, bindyree !! hiya brin!!
ok, im outty here! buy buy!!
PEE ESS: yes its true, im chipper when working, so right now, im faking it!
