On a lighter Note…Just in case you're left with the impression from mainstream media reports that people of color are the only ones prone to drug dealing-using, violence, domestic discord or acting like a fool, we pulled a few stories to remind you that “other'' communities have problemas too. Illegal-illicit activity, bad behavior, poor judgment and fool-like conduct are universal human qualities even though mass media would have some folks believing otherwise. Check out these headlines...
Singer Amy Winehouse has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of drug offences. The 24-year-old was held after police were handed a video which allegedly showed her taking drugs. A Metropolitan Police (Met) spokesman said the arrest was in connection with a video of the star passed to the force in January this year. On 22 January, The Sun newspaper published pictures allegedly showing the star smoking crack cocaine. Footage obtained by the newspaper appeared to show the Grammy award winner inhaling fumes from a pipe. (BBC)
San Diego State University police have contended with illegal drugs before, but what investigators discovered over the past year was worse – more sophisticated, more pervasive and more dangerous. Federal agents and SDSU police culminated a yearlong investigation into drug dealing around campus yesterday, the first anniversary of a freshman's cocaine-related death. Ninety-six suspects, including 75 SDSU students, have been arrested on drug-related charges as a result of the undercover operation, launched after Jenny Poliakoff, 19, was found dead in her off-campus apartment after a night of celebration with her sorority. (San Diego Tribune)
Rep. Vito Fossella today admitted he fathered a love child in a longtime secret affair with the woman who rescued him from the drunk tank. Fossella, who is married and has three children in New York, did not say if he would step down or seek re-election. "I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a 3-year-old daughter," Fossella said in a four paragraph statement. "My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry. "While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind. "Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to do my job and I will work hard to heal the deep wounds I have caused." His relationship with retired Col. Laura Fay came to light after cops busted him for drunken driving in Arlington, Va., just after midnight on Thursday May 1. He was released to Fay's custody seven hours later. Fossella, who smelled of alcohol and had wine-stained lips, told a cop that he was going to the home of his sick daughter on Grimm St. about three miles away, records show. (NYDN)
A high-powered Manhattan lawyer was cleared of wife-beating charges Tuesday - even though cops said his estranged wife was hurt in a scuffle last fall at the couple's East Side townhouse. Ira Schachter, a partner at the white-shoe firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, was freed despite dramatic photos that appear to show him causing a commotion outside the pricey brownstone on E. 78th St. Ira Schachter walked out of court surrounded by an entourage of powerful lawyers, including divorce lawyer Raoul Felder and Ira Sorkin, former head of enforcement at the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Janice Schachter's lawyer blasted prosecutors for bowing to the whim of a connected power player. Police photos showed bruises on her head and neck. He countered that he acted in self-defense after she bit him on the finger. "It felt like it went to the bone," Ira Schachter, who spent a night in jail, said in an affidavit. He filed for divorce two days later. (NYDN)
Photos Coutesy of BBC, NYDN, San Diego Tribune