Academic

Teen on house arrest for beating homeless man skips out and heads to the beach

Posted on March 24, 2011
A 16-year-old Lakeland boy serving two years of house arrest for the fatal beating of a homeless man is accused of violating the terms of his punishment by taking a trip to the beach.Now Cody Lee Osborne is back in jail -- at least until a hearing on the house arrest violation case set for March 31...

Giving money to the homeless might actually work

Posted on March 21, 2011
A charity selected 15 homeless people, asked them what they needed to change their lives -- and then bought it for them.Of the 13 who agreed to take part, 11 are now off the streets. Several have entered treatment for addiction and mental health issues, some have reconnected with their families, and all are exhibiting an enhanced ability to function independently in society (such as paying bills, signing up for welfare, and turning up for training courses)...

Crackdown on "soup runs" for homeless sparks anger

Posted on March 19, 2011
Campaigners have launched an attack on plans by Conservative-controlled Westminster council to outlaw charity-led "soup runs" for rough sleepers, as fresh evidence emerges that spending cuts will have a savage impact on services around the UK aimed at keeping homeless people off the streets...

Thought for the day

Posted on March 18, 2011
"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."                  --from President John F. Kennedy's inauguration speechHat tip: @bkirby816 of The Spencerian

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Police end protests over park closing

Posted on March 17, 2011
Richmond police broke up an encampment of 20 anarchists and homeless people who had camped out in Monroe Park near Virginia Commonwealth University for nine nights to bring attention to homeless issues.Nine people were issued a summons for remaining in the park after dark, a violation of a city ordinance...

Teens beat and kick sleeping homeless man

Posted on March 16, 2011
Their shoes were so bloody that police seized them as evidence.James Marino and Marc Sico, both 19 and from Medford, Massachusetts, were arrested after they and a third man kicked and beat three homeless men near the Back Bay subway station in Boston...

Does a county have a constitutional obligation to operate a homeless shelter?

Posted on March 15, 2011
A county in New Jersey insists it has no constitutional obligation to operate a homeless shelter.Lawyers for Ocean County made that assertion in response to a lawsuit filed by homeless advocates. The county government is being petitioned to open a shelter as an alternative to the encampments such as Tent City in Lakewood that have popped up in the woods off main highways...

Cops cleared for not arresting officer's son who sucker-punched a homeless man

Posted on March 09, 2011
An internal investigation into how Sanford police handled the case of an officer's son ? who was captured on videotape sucker-punching a homeless man ? has cleared every officer on the scene that night.The investigation began after a bar patron put the video on YouTube...

?When people think of him being homeless, they think nobody cared about him"

Posted on March 07, 2011
With $20 loaned from a friend tucked in his new wallet, Billy Joe Begley headed off to get something to eat.He told his friend he would be staying with an aunt for a couple days, something he did when he needed a break from life on the street, or to get clean clothes or to shower...

Hillsborough expands panhandling ban to state roads

Posted on March 02, 2011
It's about to get a bit tougher to panhandle in unincorporated parts of Hillsborough County.Commissioners expanded an existing panhandling ban to prohibit begging for money or selling products such as newspapers from the sides and medians of all roadways...

San Diego spends $16 million on permanent downtown homeless center

Posted on March 01, 2011
The annual struggle to find a suitable location in San Diego for an emergency homeless shelter during the year?s coldest months may have been resolved for good Tuesday as city leaders committed $16 million in local taxpayer money to a permanent facility in downtown...

Thug who attacked homeless woman is spared jail

Posted on February 28, 2011
A ?bullying? builder who was caught on camera kicking a homeless woman in the head before stealing her only possessions has been given a suspended sentence.Daniel Preston, 24, admitted assaulting Elin Mitchell, by beating in an alcohol-fuelled attack and then stealing £10...

Do you think children should enjoy special protection?

Posted on February 28, 2011
Only two UN member states, Somalia and the United States of America, have not ratified the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.Read more (including the text of the declaration) here.

Lawyer seeking homeless man who returned lost money

Posted on February 27, 2011
A relieved lawyer is looking for the Good Samaritan who found his envelope of cash lying in a and then turned it over to police in West Chester, Pennsylvania.Robert Stauffer lost $1,440 stuffed inside a credit union envelope.A man, who police say is homeless, found the cash and then flagged down a patrolman to turn over the money...

Homeless man: Diamond ring isn't mine, so who does it belong to?

Posted on February 26, 2011
Mike Secaur found a diamond ring in some change a lady driving by gave him as he stood at an intersection in Pontiac, Michigan.A homeless man who has lived on the streets around Pontiac, Michigan, for nearly two years is trying to track down a woman he thinks accidentally gave him a gold ring with small diamonds when she handed him a handful of change...

It's the inequality, stupid!

Posted on February 25, 2011
Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America. See them at Mother Jones here.

DA prosecuting homeless man for bad manners

Posted on February 23, 2011
A homeless man who was pulled away from the lectern during a city council meeting last summer is being prosecuted on charges that he violated meeting decorum by using words some consider vulgar.Richard Shapiro is charged with violating a Carlsbad, California, ordinance on maintaining proper meeting decorum...

Hot showers for homeless get a cold start

Posted on February 22, 2011
Last year's Leadership Pasco class wanted to do something to help the homeless. So they raised $40,000 to build two portable showers to give people a decent place to clean up.Each trailer includes two showers, a sink and features propane-fueled hot water and air conditioning...

Homeless man set on fire in a fight; girlfriend saves his fife

Posted on February 21, 2011
A homeless man was severely burned after being set on fire at a makeshift camp for homeless people in Fort Lauderdale.William Stouffer, 51, sustained very severe burns over a substantial portion of his body and is in a fight to recover from his catastrophic injuries...

Homeless man killed when underground dwelling collapses

Posted on February 20, 2011
Search teams found a man buried beneath 10 to 15 feet of dirt after a week-long search in Palm Desert, California.A homeless woman went into a fire station on Feb. 12 and reported her 30-year-old friend missing. The woman told firefighters her friend had built an underground dwelling under a sand dune in the desert...

What happened in federal appeals court (part 2)

Posted on February 19, 2011
Here's a video of me talking about my recent appearance before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to present oral arguments in the case of Orlando Food Not Bombs versus the City of Orlando. It was filmed by T.J. McCarthy of 4D Pictures, with the Wednesday evening food-sharing at Lake Eola Park as a backdrop.

What happened in federal appeals court

Posted on February 18, 2011
The Florida Independent had the most comprehensive report on Tuesday's en banc rehearing before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Read it here.

Gov. Rick Scott's budget slashes spending for homeless

Posted on February 11, 2011
Last year, agencies that help Florida's homeless received nearly $7 million in state funding to assist more than 74,000 people.But that money was wiped out of the Gov Rick Scott's budget, which calls for elimination of the state's Office of Homelessness...

State senator apologizes for "hateful and bigoted" e-mail about the homeless

Posted on February 09, 2011
State Senator Nick Kettle has apologized for an e-mail about a hearing on homelessness that advocates on the issue described as hateful and bigoted.Kettle, a Republican from Rhode Island, sent this e-mail urging Tea Party members to fill up the hearing room:I need as many tea party supporters there for this one...

Homeless camp puts down roots -- with the city's OK

Posted on February 08, 2011
A lot of cities view homeless encampments like weeds that have sprung up in the civic garden. Sacramento and Fort Worth, for example, have shut them down.Seattle, though, is taking a different approach: It wants a city-run camp on city-owned property...

Another state considers adding homelessness to hate-crime laws

Posted on February 08, 2011
The homeless and the people who care for them successfully implored lawmakers to add homelessness as a category to Colorado?s hate-crime laws.?Hunting season for the homeless is a year-round event,? said Vernon Lewis, a 38-year-old man who is homeless...

Even more homeless than they were before

Posted on February 07, 2011
?We?ve been told we can?t put a tent up nowhere in this city for six months or they will come back and arrest us again,? said Gary, 48, an Army veteran (right).Said 31-year-old David: ?We?re looking for other alternatives.?After the Kansas City cops evicted them from their encampment hard by the freeway ramp, David Strobl and Gary R...

New Pinellas shelter fills up quickly

Posted on February 07, 2011
A month after Pinellas Safe Harbor opened its doors to homeless residents, city and county officials consider the program a great success.Perhaps a little too much of a success.The shelter facility near the county jail, designed to house homeless offenders whose crimes are minor and non-violent, quickly filled to near-capacity...

Soup kitchen refuses to sign 'Anti-Terrorism Compliance Measures' form

Posted on January 31, 2011
Brendan Walsh estimates that more than 1 million people have shared meals at the Viva House soup kitchen.A soup kitchen is refusing to certify that it does not use United Way funds to support terrorism, saying the request smacks of McCarthyism.Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham, who since 1968 have operated Viva House soup kitchen and food pantry on Baltimore?s west side, say they were surprised to receive a letter from the United Way of Central Maryland asking them to sign and return an ?Anti-Terrorism Compliance Measures? form or risk losing money that was pledged to them...

A State of the Union address without the words "poor" or "poverty"?

Posted on January 30, 2011
"A good first step would be for us -- all of us, not just those of us who deliver State of the Union messages -- to acknowledge the poor, to use the word poverty, to accept it as part of who we are," writes my colleague Benjamin Kirby over at The Spencerian...

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