| The price of punishment
Dozens of odd jobs later, police arrested him in 1990 for the fatal shooting of his girlfriend in their Merced trailer during a drunken rage. Hoffman said he remembers seeing her lying on the couch, covered with a blanket, and then nothing else until he heard police banging on the trailer door. He's serving a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder and for the past two years he has waited for death. "I don't read anymore," he said. "Was doing some oil painting, but don't do that no more. I can't see too good. Shaky." Hoffman is one of a growing number of elderly inmates under the care of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. These prisoners - men and women who often look more like frail senior citizens than heinous criminals - drive up costs and contribute to the crowding of state prisons.
Tribute bands zapped
The 12th annual Midwest Elvis Presley Impersonators Competition runs tonight and Saturday at the Springfield Hilton. (The event traditionally sells out, but as of Thursday morning a number of tickets were still available for tonight's show only. check out www.pietalent.com if you're interested.)These shows - similar ones take place all around the country and lead to a national showdown among Elvis impersonators - are enjoyed by thousands. Of course, many more Elvis impersonators perform all around the world.In the past few months, a Presley tribute act (Al Hull) and a Beatles tribute act (British Export) have played to paying crowds at Decatur's Lincoln Square Theatre. American English played Decatur Celebration's Show Stage in August, and Rain - a Beatles tribute band that aficionado Kevin Breheny says is the best he's ever seen - plays the Rosebud Theatre in Effingham on Feb.
The Cairo Film Festival Reborn
At press time, the festival's organizing committee was still reviewing which of seven entries from Egypt would be selected to enter the competition. Among the contenders: Sayyad El-Yamama (The Dove Hunter), directed by Ismail Murad and starring Ashraf Abdel-Baky and Basma; Mafeesh Gheir Keddah (Nothing But This), directed by Khaled El-Haggar and starring Nabila Ebeid and Rola Mahmoud; Ostoghommaya (Hide and Seek), directed by Emad El-Bahat and starring Ahmed Yehia and Amr Mamdouh; and Qass We Lazq (Cut and Paste), directed by Hala Khalil and starring Hanan Turk and Sherif Mounir. Worth mentioning: two films co-starring Abou-Ouf himself might make the cut, director Ahmed Youssry's big-screen debut 45 Youm (45 Days), starring Ahmed El-Fishawy, and Mateegy Norqoss, the Inas El-Degheidy version of Shall We Dance, starring Youssra and Tamer Hagrass.
Sex offender could get 500 years in prison
Prosecutors said James Downs, who was convicted of 28 sex crimes against three young boys between June 2001 and September 2006, could receive the hefty prison term after his sentencing hearing Feb. 8, the Arizona Republic reported Monday.
Downs, 34, was convicted of 27 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor. He committed the crimes while working at New Destiny Christian Church, which all three victims attended.
"I am hopeful that these convictions, and the fact that this offender never again will be able to harm a child, can bring greater peace and healing to all involved," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said.
Michael Anthony Scerbo, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, said the law requires mandatory consecutive sentences for the crimes, which will yield a prison term of more than 500 years.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We've pretty well exhausted this Kotsay topic since I first posted a blog last Wednesday speculating the Braves' interest in the 32-year-old Oakland outfielder, especially after Kotsay told me Friday that A's GM Billy Beane called him that morning and said a possible trade was in the works with Atlanta. So we'll not devote this blog to more debate over whether it was a good trade, though you are certainly free to continue that topic if you'd like. My last word (for now) on the subject: I think it was a very good trade provided Kotsay is healthy, because the Braves only pay $2 mill (A's paying other $5 mill of his $7 mill salary, plus the $350,000 bonus he gets for moving, which was part of his contract). And they give up a hard-throwing reliever who hasn't panned out yet and probably wasn't going to be more than a middle man if he made this year's bullpen.
Report: Sprint Nextel to cut more jobs
Citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, the Journal said the cuts would run into the thousands of workers. The Reston-based company, with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., laid off 5,000 employees last year to end up at around 60,000. A Sprint spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. The wireless carrier has struggled in the past year, falling far behind wireless rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless in attracting new subscribers and wrestling with customer service problems and sometimes ineffective marketing. The downturn cost former CEO Gary Forsee his job. Hesse, former CEO of local telephone company and Sprint spin-off Embarq Corp., is facing a long list of potential changes at the company, and cutting employee costs could be one of them.
Theatre troupe pays homage to Dickens
The new Theatre Erindale season kicks off Friday with a faithful homage to the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield.The troupe, celebrating 15 years of putting on shows, has revisited the 800-plus page novel and has condensed the beloved tale into an approximately two-hour performance. The show, featuring a cast of 20, is directed by Mimi Mekler.In the Theatre Erindale version, Peggotty, Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, Betsy Trotwood and the rest of the crew put orphaned Davy through travels, trials and tribulations on the road to becoming the hero of his own life. Heroes, it turns out, is the theme of the 2007-2008 Theatre Erindale season. This year, the troupe has built its series of shows around the idea of the "hero of my own life," which is billed as a string of would-be heroes and heroines in a mix of comedy, tragedy, romance, contemporary hits and period classics.In fact, the theme is culled from the opening line of David Copperfield.
|
