Mother, father accused of child abuse

HOUSTON -
A mother and father have been accused of physically abusing and neglecting their three young children.
Darren Denley, 22, and Elise Penn, 22, were both charged with two counts of injury to a child.
According to court documents, police were called out to the family's southwest Houston apartment on July 25 after Penn's mother called Child Protective Services about the children's welfare. The grandmother said the children had cigarette burns, bruises and were malnourished. 
An officer said he found the children upstairs and the 11-month-old, 2-year-old and 3-year-old appeared dirty and malnourished. The officer said the 2-year-old also had a black eye.
According to court documents, Denley told the officer the grandmother had no business calling the police because nothing was wrong with the children.
The children were taken to Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital where they were treated for malnutrition and broken bones.
Denley and Penn are being held on $30,000 bond for each count.

Peachtree Corners Home Real Estate Market on the Upswing

The housing market continues to improve. Buyer and seller optimism is paying off, and we are seeing a spring market with many opportunities for both buyers and sellers. Realtors are excited about all the changes we are seeing in the housing industry.

It is time for buyers to react and they have not disappointed us. We are seeing multiple offers on many properties. It seems that buyers realize that these interest rates are as good as it gets. Buying power changes greatly with each small change in interest rates.

If in the position to buy, you need to act on it before the interest rates go up. Sellers are at this time realistic in their pricing and a well priced home will sell quickly. These are two reasons that the market conditions make if favorable for both buyer and seller.

A review of the market in January and a comparison to this same time last year will help us get a feeling for how much the local housing market has rebounded. In January, 2012 we had 96 active listings. In January, 2013 we had 53 homes for sale.

This represents a drop in available inventory of 45 percent. There is a 3.5 months supply of homes available for sale. There was a 16 month supply at this same time one year ago. That market definitely favored the buyer.

Many experts in the real estate industry feel that a market with a 3 to 6 month supply of homes is in balance. This means that the market does not favor the buyer or seller. However, when the supply of homes drops below a 3 months supply it clearly becomes a sellers market.

The number of distressed properties has dropped about 20 percent compared to this same time last year. The numbers were 124 distressed properties in January, 2012 and 101 in January, 2013. Distressed properties include not only foreclosures but notices to homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgage.
New on the market in Peachtree Corners 4315 Fitzpatrick Way

Roast beef products distributed in Chicago recalled due to a Listeria risk

Addison, Ill. company, Perfect Pasta Inc., has recalled more than 300 pounds of  ready-to-eat roast beef products that were distributed in the Chicago area due to the potential of Listeria monocytogenes contamination, according to a  U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) press release Feb. 14.

 The affected product is 5-lb. packages of “GINA FULLY COOKED ROAST BEEF WITH SEASONED JUICE” with a lot code number of “040615RB” and a pack date of “02-06-13.”

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 19829” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
Listeriosis, a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, is an important public health problem. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. However, rarely, persons without these risk factors can also be affected.
Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled. Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness, however, infections during pregnancy can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn, or even stillbirth.
Consumers and members of the media with questions regarding the recall should contact the company’s Quality Assurance Manager, Connie DeMarco, at (630) 543-8300.

4 injured in two-vehicle crash in San Carlos

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Residents in San Carlos are calling for increased road safety measures after a serious two-car accident Friday that sent four women to the hospital.
It happened at about 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of Cowles Mountain Boulevard and Boulder Lake Drive. According to investigators, a driver with two passengers in a Honda Civic were attempting to cross Cowles Mountain Boulevard when their vehicle was broadsided by a driver in a Chevy sedan.

"We were sitting right here, we heard it. We were out the door in 10 seconds. It was horrible," a resident said.
Two of the women in the crash sustained serious injuries, and the other two were treated for minor injuries.
It's a sight neighbors say they've seen way too often, and they're demanding a four-way stop.
"This could have been avoided because we've had this petition for four months and they keep dragging their heels," a neighbor said. "We just want traffic to slow down and we want to be more safe before somebody gets killed here."

2 people hospitalized after collision in Lake Murray

SAN DIEGO - Two people were hospitalized Friday afternoon following a two-car collision in the Lake Murray area.

The crash was reported just before 1:30 p.m. on Cowles Mountain Boulevard and Boulder Lake Avenue, authorities said.

San Diego Fire-Rescue crews responded and had to cut open the roof of a green car to extract a woman trapped inside. She was taken to the hospital with what was described as major trauma. Another person from the car was also hospitalized.

Three people in the other car were not injured.

There is no word on what caused the crash.

Father says he's still paying child support for 3-year-old son who died 25 years ago Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/father-says-hes-still-paying-child-support-for-3-year-old-son-who-died-25-years-ago

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Lional Campbell's son, Michael, passed away at the age of three from acute meningitis.
"It took a lot out of me," says Campbell who is from Detroit and now lives in Kentucky. And it's that distance that is making even more difficult for Campbell to wage a fight with Wayne County Friend of the Court over child support that Campbell says he is still paying for Michael.
A spokesperson for the Friend of the Court says no one ever notified them of the boy's death until Campbell began asking why he still owed child support in 2011 for a child that was deceased by the age of 3.
For years, Campbell never questioned paying child support to Friend of the Court because he thought the money was for what he owed for an older son he fathered with Michael's mother.
The older son was born seven years before Michael and is now 34 years old.
Believing his payments, that included arrearages, should have ended by now, Campbell asked why the payments had not stopped.
He says he was told the continuing payments were back child support for his son Michael.
Campbell drove to Detroit to show court officials a death certificate, proof that Michael died in 1988, but says he was told that he still owed about $43,000 for Michael.
Campbell asked for several audits. Each time he was given a lesser amount. He was then told he owed a little less than $20,000.
Campbell says even clerks at the Friend of the Court have been baffled.
"The lady said 'how you owe on a child been dead 23 years?' I said I don’t know and she said we’ll do another audit".
Campbell reached out to 7 Action News and while a spokesperson for the Friend of the Court could not talk specifically about Campbell's case because of privacy issues, they did tell us that surcharges drastically raise the amounts owed by non-custodial parents.
One court official likened the surcharges, that ended several years ago, to "loan sharking".
Court officials admitted to 7 Action News that the calculations from the audits were wrong and that they would expedite another one.
The latest audit resulted in what court officials believe is an accurate amount Campbell still owes: $6,460.08.
And after so many erroneous audits, Campbell still doubts he owes that amount because for so many years he was paying for what court officials believed were two children.
A spokesperson for Friend of the Court tells 7 Action News that there is no clear reason other than human error to explain why multiple audits generated such varied amounts.
The case is also complicated by factors that include: appropriately detangling the surcharges; gaps in Campbell's employment history; and payments for two children that were being made for many years.
Campbell plans on seeking another audit before filing his taxes for fear that any refund will be swallowed up by the Friend of the Court that continues to garnish his checks.
Court officials call the mistakes they believe were made on their part "regretful". And they believe the errors in Campbell's case are isolated.
Michael's mother declined to comment on the story.

Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/father-says-hes-still-paying-child-support-for-3-year-old-son-who-died-25-years-ago#ixzz2L2K6oxta

Oscar-nominated ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ gets plug from Michelle Obama at White House

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama on Wednesday gushed over the Oscar-nominated film “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” calling it one of the “most powerful and most important” movies in a long time in a ringing endorsement delivered less than two weeks before this month’s Academy Awards ceremony.
The first lady commented during a Black History Month workshop at the White House for about 80 middle- and high-school students from the District of Columbia and New Orleans. The movie was set in Louisiana.

Students saw the film, then got to question director Benh Zeitlin and actors Dwight Henry and 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis. Wallis stars in the mythical tale of a 6-year-old girl named Hushpuppy struggling to survive in the southern Delta with her ailing father as a storm approaches. Her world consists of a tight-knit, shantytown community on the bayou with wild animals, both real and imagined.
The film won four Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best actress and directing.
Mrs. Obama said she saw the 93-minute film over the summer with a large group of friends and family who ranged in age from 3 to 73, and they were enthralled by it.
“It’s rare these days to find a movie that can so completely and utterly captivate such a broad audience and that was one of the things that struck me about this movie,” she said. “It managed to be beautiful, joyful and devastatingly honest.”
The first lady said “Beasts” makes viewers “think deeply about the people we love in our lives who make us who we are” and shows the strength of communities and the power they give others to overcome obstacles.
“It also tells a compelling story of poverty and devastation but also of hope and love in the midst of some great challenges,” she said.
Mrs. Obama also said it was “cool” that “there are so many important lessons to learn in that little 93 minutes.”
“That a director and a set of writers and producers can say so much in just 93 minutes,” the first lady told the students. “And it doesn’t always happen in a movie, quite frankly, but this one did it, and that’s why I love this movie so much and why our team wanted to bring it here to the White House and share it with all of you.”
Mrs. Obama also used the film to inspire her young audience, noting that Wallis was just 5 years old when she auditioned for the part and Henry, who runs a bakery, had never acted a day in his life.
“You all have to really be focused on preparing yourselves for the challenges and the opportunities that will lie ahead for all of you. You’ve got to be prepared,” she said, urging them to go to school, do their homework every day and follow her husband’s example by reading everything they get their hands on.

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