Another
week has passed, and we are 1/52nd closer to the Rapture,
Praise the Lord.
These
miscellaneous stories caught my attention this week – think of them
as a taster's sampler of news media from various sources, and please,
enjoy responsibly.
Seth
Bracken, Q Salt Lake
A recent string of attacks on gay men in Utah has lead to an increased awareness of violence prevention and a large community response, encompassing queer-rights groups and their allies.
In the first incident, a 20-year-old Salt Lake City resident was attacked and hospitalized on Aug. 27 as he left a downtown club....That same evening, up the street from the first attack, a group of men broke into a gay man’s apartment and attacked his boyfriend while shouting gay slurs as the beating continued out into the street, said Tom Taylor, owner of Club Sound.
After members of the queer and straight communities in the area heard about the attack on [Dane] Hall, there was an immediate response. A bank account at Zions Bank was opened for the public to make donations, and some fundraisers were organized. Club Metro, which is near where the attack occurred, held a raffle and raised approximately $2,000. Club Sound donated a portion of their proceeds to the fund for Hall’s medical costs. Also, lights around the club, although not on the property, have been turned on to help make the area safer. The Utah Theatre United held a fundraising event and performance at Club JAM and raised more than $6,000. Individual donors have donated thousands of dollars to Hall’s medical expenses as well as medical services have been donated.
Amidst the fundraising and the community organizing, the community’s safety was rocked again when a third gay man, Cameron Nelson, was attacked outside a hair salon in American Fork, where he works. Nelson, 32, was taking out the trash on Sept. 8, around 12:30 a.m. when he was approached by multiple assailants who began shouting gay slurs and beating him.
Donald
Meyers, The Salt Lake Tribune
Provo’s Municipal Council is poised to vote Tuesday on Councilman Steve Turley’s fate, but the effects of his case have already reached Utah’s Capitol Hill.
Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, is considering changes to the Municipal Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act to clear up issues surrounding the law that arose in the Turley investigation...Turley was accused by 23 residents of not disclosing conflicts of interest, using his office for personal gain and undermining government efficiency by working against council colleagues — specifically joining a political action committee targeting then-Councilwoman Cindy Richards in the 2009 election...The Utah County Attorney’s Office investigated and filed 10 felony fraud charges against Turley related to his private business dealings.A city probe performed by retired 4th District Judge Anthony Schofield found five instances in which Turley violated the municipal ethics act — either by not properly disclosing conflicts of interest or using information he gleaned as a councilman for business purposes.
Findings,Bee Edition [excerpt]
Rafil
Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine
Four hives of valuable research bees were stolen in Scotland, and scientists in Limerick found dark Irish honeybees relatively resilient to colony collapse disorder. Cell phones cause bees to behave erratically, and lost honeybees can find their way home by looking to the sky.
CountrywideProtected Fraudsters By Silencing Whistleblowers, Say FormerEmployees Michael Hudson, iWatch News
In the summer of 2007, a team of corporate investigators sifted through mounds of paper pulled from shred bins at Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage shops in and around Boston.
By intercepting the documents before they were sliced by the shredder, the investigators were able to uncover what they believed was evidence that branch employees had used scissors, tape and Wite-Out to create fake bank statements, inflated property appraisals and other phony paperwork. Inside the heaps of paper, for example, they found mock-ups that indicated to investigators that workers had, as a matter of routine, literally cut and pasted the address for one home onto an appraisal for a completely different piece of property.
Richard Gonzales, NPR
An exhibit of children's art from Palestine was supposed to open Saturday at the Oakland Museum of Children's Art, but the show was canceled. Museum officials say community members raised concerns about whether the art, depicting scenes of Israeli-Palestinian violence, was appropriate for children.
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