Lost Lake Tribune March 7th FULL Edition

WORLD NEWS Zimbabwe's PM Is Injured in Crash, His Wife Does Not Survive Collision.- Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesman said Friday the premier was hurt in a car accident in which his wife died. Tsvangirai is expected to survive the accident which occurred on the outskirts of the capital, Harare. President Robert Mugabe arrived at the hospital late in the evening, followed by Joice Mujuru, a vice president and member of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Tsvangirai's convoy had been traveling to a weekend rally in the prime minister's home region, south of Harare, when their car sideswiped a truck, Maridadi said. The Tsvangirais, who married in 1978 and had six children, often went together to political events, but Susan did not have a prominent public role. The road where the accident occurred is like many in Zimbabwe — in poor condition because of a lack of maintenance — and is notorious for accidents. Long stretches have been reduced to one lane. State television canceled its first evening newscast without explanation and reported nothing about the accident in its second. Tsvangirai was sworn in Feb. 11 as Zimbabwe's prime minister in a power-sharing deal meant to end a year of deadly stalemate with Mugabe, who remains president. The unity government has been rocky after years of rivalry between Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, and Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980. Tsvangirai formed his Movement for Democratic Change a decade ago. As it emerged as a serious political challenger, Tsvangirai repeatedly faced the wrath of Mugabe's ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai has been beaten and was once nearly thrown from a 10th floor window by suspected government thugs. Many Tsvangirai supporters were in prison even as he joined the government. Several have since been released. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506204,00.html USA NEWS Ohio Man Does Let Everyone Down Except Himself.- CLEVELAND Friday-- A man who killed himself a day after he killed his wife and four others, had told a judge in 2005 that he was ready to be a law-abiding citizen who would not let society down if he was released from prison. "I swear to you from the bottom of my heart that I 'WILL NOT' let you down. Let my wife or children down. Let my family down. Let society down. Or especially, let myself down," Davon Crawford wrote to Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Russo as part of a motion for release. Crawford, who was freed in 2007, shot himself in the head Friday when confronted by police in the bathroom of a home not far from the house where he fatally shot his wife, his sister-in-law and three young children, said Cleveland Police Lt. Thomas Stacho. Crawford, 33, was divorced from his first wife about three months after writing the letter to Russo. He married again recently, according to the father of his new wife, Lechea Crawford. She was one of the women killed in the couple's home Thursday night, and police say a 2-month-old baby was found unharmed in the home is believed to be theirs. The two-story home where Crawford died is located in a densely populated Cleveland neighborhood, and several dozen people lined up across the street as police converged on the house. They cheered as a sheet-covered stretcher was removed from the house, and cheered again when a van left with the body Friday evening. Dozens also gathered Friday evening, on the street where Thursday's slayings took place. They held a candlelight vigil at the site, where a memorial of more than a dozen stuffed animals had grown on the front steps. Crawford was convicted in 1995 of voluntary manslaughter, according to prison records. He was released in 2000 and sent back to prison in 2002 on a felonious assault conviction involving domestic violence. In the 2005 letter, Crawford apologizes for firing a gun in his home and says, "I made an insensible choice in a moment of anger that could have actually cost me my wife and children . . . I now realize that when I make bad impulsive decisions, that I do not only hurt myself . . . I hurt everyone that love and cares for me as well . . . especially my children." He wrote that his then-wife had lung cancer and that he had a job and supporting family waiting for him. His wife, mother and others wrote to the judge on Crawford's behalf, noting that he had three children at the time and had taken parenting and anger management courses and was studying to be a dentist. While on parole, which ended last year, Crawford passed several drug tests, paid his child support, had a full-time job and no run-ins with authorities, according to Andrea Carson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehab and Correction. Police searching for Crawford on Friday received a tip and set up surveillance at the home where he was later seen by authorities, Stacho said. Police forced their way through the front door and found Crawford was hiding in the bathtub. He fired one shot from a handgun, killing himself, said Jeff Carter, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman. "There was no standoff," Stacho said. "As they confronted him, he shot himself." Stacho said officials believe a relative of Crawford lives at the home. Police Chief Michael McGrath said it appears that some sort of domestic argument sparked Thursday's shootings. Besides Lechea Crawford, Davon killed her sister Rose Stevens, 25, and Stevens' three children: 4-year-old Destanee Woods and 2-year-old twins Dion and Davion Primm. A fifth child, 7 years old, was wounded and is being treated. Two other boys in the house, ages 12 and 13, managed to flee unharmed and one called 911. Information gained from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506767,00.html MINNESOTA NEWS Hennepin County commissioners continued to debate their plans for spending federal stimulus money. By Mary Jame Smetaka Star Tribune Last update: March 3, 2009 - 10:29 PM Hennepin County commissioners have killed a proposal to add a second wind turbine at the county's public works facility in Medina, saying conditions on the site make it impractical to seek federal stimulus money for the construction. The action came Tuesday as the board, acting in committee, continued to shape its stimulus funding proposals. Commissioners said the new wind turbine, which was estimated to cost $3.5 million, would have had trouble getting city approval anyway. With the already approved first turbine set to begin construction this fall, there is little buildable space left on the public works site. The board also nixed a proposal to seek stimulus funding to end use of paper towels at the downtown government center -- the money would have been used to purchase hot-air hand-dryers. But it moved 29 other proposals forward. Those are expected to get a final thumbs up or down at a regular board meeting later this month. Sailing forward with consensus support were five projects worth more than $21 million: $10 million would go toward converting medical records at three Hennepin County Medical Center neighborhood health clinics that serve a highly mobile population to an electronic format; another $9.7 million would go to replace HCMC's hyperbaric chamber, which is used to treat carbon monoxide and burn victims and is unique in the state. Other proposals that advanced with united board support were a $200,000 effort to promote the 2010 census. Because so much federal funding is linked to population, commissioners want to make sure every resident is counted. The other consensus proposals were to connect heating and cooling systems in two downtown buildings for greater efficiency and to replace 16 county vehicles with American-made hybrid vehicles. Remaining proposals, including public safety initiatives and the renovation of two historic Fort Snelling buildings, will get more board discussion. Also on Tuesday, the county announced that many administrators will take three days of unpaid leave to help with the county's finances. Top-level managers including county Administrator Richard Johnson as well as 30 department directors will give up about 1 percent of their yearly salaries. The county has a $1.7 billion budget but is looking for savings because of shrinking state and federal support. Commissioners have already decided to give up their scheduled pay increases for 2010. The county also is asking 310 managers to consider taking voluntary unpaid leave. The county has about 8,200 employees. Information copied from http://www.startribune.com/local/west/40688667.html?elr=KArks:DCiUBDia_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU Pillsbury's Latest News Will Keep Its Proponents Interested.- By Rachel Fugate - Bible College News Contributor "Pillsbury Commencement 2009" Those words just spark excitement in me, they may not in you but that is probably because you are not going to be a part of the last Pillsbury Graduates. This past week Dr. Werner Lumm, former Academic Dean and Vice-President of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College sent out the the details of Commencement 2009. The last Commencement of Pillsbury will be held at Faith Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN at 2:00 p.m. on May 24th, 2009. The public, especially those associated with Pillsbury, is invited to join the last Pillsbury graduates as they walk the line and receive their diplomas. A good portion of the Pillsbury faculty and staff will be there; they are not required to attend but they have been strongly encouraged to be there. Dr. Greg Huffman (former President of Pillsbury) will be able to conduct his only graduation ceremonies and be the leader of the last official proceedings. There will be close to 35 graduates including four to five students with two-year degrees. The latest Pillsbury news is that Mr. (soon to be DR.) Andrew Hudson (former Pillsbury professor) will be teaching Seminary Classes at Maranatha Baptist Bible College next school year. Mr. Rodney Shuler, another Pillsbury professor, candidated at a church in Menominee Falls this past Sunday. Mr. Dan and Mrs. Diane Morrell (former Pillsbury professors) have accepted jobs at Northland Baptist Bible College as editors of online Seminary classes. Also, Coach Keith and Mrs. Judy Champion have accepted jobs for next school year at Clearwaters Christian College. Soon, the Library - books - of Pillsbury will be auctioned off all at once to the highest bidder. The computers, scantrons, pictures, and anything other property of Pillsbury that would sell has either been put on Ebay or sold to various people. The only people still working at Pillsbury are Dr. Glenn and Mrs. Joan Brownewell, Mr. Robert Johnson, Mr. Jon Riffle, Mr. Ken Wilson, Miss Elizabeth Brownewell, and Dr. Werner Lumm. They are either doing paperwork, security, maintenance, and/or negotiations with Crossroads Bible College. In other Pillsbury related news Maranatha Baptist Bible College and Northland Baptist Bible College have separately decided to let the Pillsbury Seniors that decided to finish at those colleges walk the line with their other 2009 graduates. Northland's graduation will held on May 9, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. That means that I will be able to walk the line twice. My family will have the choice of which one they can make it to and I am definitely looking forward to graduating "twice" and being a part of the last graduating class of Pillsbury. I also hope to see you, especially my brother, Ben, at one of my Graduation Ceremonies. Sports Scores GO TO http://www.cybersportsusa.com/tourney.asp?sport_id=1&lev_id=3&assoc_id=75&tc_id=2130 and http://www.cybersportsusa.com/tourney.asp?sport_id=1&lev_id=3&assoc_id=75&tc_id=2128 Fourth Baptist Girls And Guys Finish the Tournament Where They Started. The third seeded Fourth Baptist Lady Warriors won 33-20 on Thursday over Prior Lake. The two teams scored a few points early and then neither team scored for about ten minutes. Then Prior Lake took a 10-7 lead with less than a minute to go in the half. But Fourth scored two late baskets on successful full court press plays to take a 11-10 lead at halftime. In the second sixteen minute half, Fourth jumped out to an early 17-10 lead and took a 31-14 lead before cruising to an easy victory. Neither team shot well. The Lady Warriors missed at least ten free throws as they received many more attempts at the charity stripe than Prior Lake did. Then the Fourth Baptist advanced to the semifinals to face rival, Woodcrest. The game started with three early baskets from Junior point guard Amanda Olson. The Fourth Baptist girls took a 9-0 lead before allowing Woodcrest back in the game and hanging on to a 11-10 lead at halftime. In the second seventeen minute half. Fourth Baptist scored just two baskets in the first 15 minutes while allowing Woodcrest to slowly take over by scoring just six baskets in the half. Amanda Olson hit a late three to help Fourth to pull within four, but Woodcrest hit four free throws late to win 26-18. In the second half Amanda Olson missed four good looks at the basket and Emily Nystrom missed six shots in the paint. According to Assistant Coach Amy Toner, the team played well but their shots were not falling. In the third place game, the Fourth Baptist girls met another rival, Chisago Lakes who was led by Allison Hanson and Kelsey Hraba. Fourth Baptist did not let Chisago Lakes control the game, but instead jumped out early to a 10-2 lead. The Lady Warriors continued to play hard and dominate the board as they took a 26-12 lead at halftime. In the second half, Chisago Lakes did not go down quietly as they mounted a 13-4 run to bring the game to a 32-25 score. Fourth Baptist called timeout with three minutes to go and did not let Chisago Lakes score again as Junior guard Stephanie Monroe put the game away late with a 17 foot jump shot, just outside the free throw line. Senior Kari Peterson got her first start of the season and scored a basket early, while her classmate Jenny Reemstma scored a second half basket in an identical 2 point effort. Emily Nystrom finished her high school basketball career with a 10 point game. Amanda Olson also had 10 points. Stephanie Monroe hit four jump shots and scored 8 points. Kelsey Meredith scored the other two points for the Lady Warriors who finished the season strong. The second seeded Fourth Baptist Varsity Basketball team also had an eventful week at the twelve team MACS tournament which was hosted by Woodcrest and Fourth Baptist. The Warriors easily defeated St. Francis on Thursday. Then the Warriors took on the very competitive Heritage Christian Patriots on Friday. The first half went back and forth with the Warriors taking a 26-21 lead. In the second half, Fourth pulled away to a 40-25 lead, but Heritage did not give the game away yet. The Patriots battled back and scored 12 straight points in about 5 minutes. Heritage added another basket late and went to the free throw line for the lead with about 25 seconds left. The Patriots missed BOTH free throws and Fourth Baptist grabbed the rebound. The Warriors did no better at the line as Josh Henderson missed the front end of a one and one. Then Sam Vanseia missed another front end with 2.7 seconds to go. Heritage's 6' 6" center reached for the rebound but tipped the ball out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go. Fourth Baptist ran out the clock and won 40-39. Fourth Baptist advanced for a whopper of a championship game. The Warriors faced the the number one seed, Rosemount who had defeated Fourth Baptist twice in the season. Fourth's point guard Isaac Meredith started the scoring with a three. Then both teams traded baskets early then Fourth Baptist took a seven point lead only to have it erased. At halftime the score was Rosemount 25, Fourth Baptist 23. Dexter Wilson had 8 points at the half and Isaac Meredith had 9 at the break. Both teams played hard in the second half with neither team taking a lead larger than five. With 8 minutes to go Rosemount's star forward, Dexter Wilson left the game with four fouls, he would play only two more minutes. Soon afterwards, Fourth Baptist's forward, Sam Vansiea fouled out on what seemed to be a simple layup. Rosemount thought they had the game sewn up late with a 42-37 lead but Josh Henderson hit a shot in the paint and Brian King hit his only three of the season to tie the game with 20 seconds to go. Rosemount missed a three to win the game in regulation. In overtime, Rosemount dominated the boards and took a four point lead. But Fourth Baptist did score once more to pull within two points, however a late turnover with one minute to go killed the Warriors' chance to take the crown. Rosemount hit three free throws to put the game away. The Warriors' Isaac Meredith fouled out in overtime, limiting his team's options for three point shooters. But Isaac played extremely well. In the end, Rosemount's "too many weapons" were too much for Fourth Baptist to stop according to the Warriors' head coach, Andy Toner. The final score was 51-46, Josh Henderson led the Warriors with 17 points while Dexter Wilson chipped in 15 for Rosemount. Editorial. First, I would like to congratulate the Fourth Baptist Warriors and Lady Warriors for their excellent play LAST week. Both teams played well and ended the season strong. I would like also to thank Mark Monroe and Chris Friese for their help in the 2009 MACS tourney. Have you been watching the Dow Jones Industrial Average lately? On January 2, 2009 it was $9034.69. At the end of January 12 it was $8473.96. On January 20 it fell 332 points to $7949.09. January 28 brought the price up 201 points to $8375. However since Febraury 9th, the Dow has fallen every day but four and the overall average has gone from 8270 to 6626! Source:http://www.google.com/finance?q=INDEXDJX:.DJI That is a 1600 point drop worth 19% of the Dow Jones average! Whose fault is that? Many would still blame President George W. Bush, but he has been out of office for 47 days. Others blame President Barack Obama. But why do they the young president? The current bailout plans for the banks, the bank 'stress' tests, the economic stimulus plan, the Omnibus bill and the planned 2010 budget are just some of the reasons given by conservatives like Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Jason Lewis among others. However I would like to blame two factors: the liberal leaders of our country and the investment strategy. I will explain these factors briefly: The liberal leaders of our country including Arlen Specter, Olympia Snow, Susan Collians, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Timothy Geinther, and President Barack Obama have sold out our country to socialism by not reversing the bailout plan, passing the economic SPENDULUS plan, bailing out the FDIC, and proposing a $3.7 trillion budget for 2010 with a $1 Trillion deficit. This waste of American money is wrong and unsustainable. When you tax the rich incessantly, as President Obama plans, you will bring in less revenue after a couple of years. It is just like when a store raises it prices and fees to never seen before levels and its sales drop like a lead balloon. Those who make less than 250,000 a year are supposed to get a check so expect many Americans to stop working hard as small business owners aqnd to just take a gov't check until those checks run out and America has to return to capitalism. On the other hand, we have the other factor, investment strategy. For years, Americans have put thousands and millions in retirement funds and IRAs. They expect those funds to grow with little problems. They put in $250,000 over a period of at least forty years and then expect all of that money to be there will a whole lot of interest. This is not exactly how investments work. When one entrusts his money to another he should not expect any of that money to return unless that person is TRUSTWORTHY. Investments are a RISK that have great reward and equal forfeiture possibilities. Your money is safest as a HARD METAL in a METAL standard currency society. Yet millions of Americans have trusted in the stock market for their money to grow and now have learned the hard lesson that most stockbrokers and most elected officials cannot be trusted for more than a few years. If you still want to invest your money with someone else it still may be an advisable choice but do not complain to anyone when you lose your money. Instead study capitalism and encourage your leaders to support capitalist economic policies. This is the OPINION of editor Benjamin Fugate. Do you agree or DISAGREE? Email Ben Fugate at benfugate2005@yahoo.com Subject line: Letter to the editor