By JOE MILICIA, Associated Press Writer Joe Milicia, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 8, 2:55 pm ET
CLEVELAND – A contractor who found $182,000 in Depression-era currency hidden in a bathroom wall has ended up with only a few thousand dollars, but he feels some vindication.
The windfall discovery amounted to little more than grief for contractor Bob Kitts, who couldn't agree on how to split the money with homeowner Amanda Reece.
It didn't help Reece much, either. She testified in a deposition that she was considering bankruptcy and that a bank recently foreclosed on one of her properties.
And 21 descendants of Patrick Dunne — the wealthy businessman who stashed the money that was minted in a time of bank collapses and joblessness — will each get a mere fraction of the find.
"If these two individuals had sat down and resolved their disputes and divided the money, the heirs would have had no knowledge of it," said attorney Gid Marcinkevicius, who represents the Dunne estate. "Because they were not able to sit down and divide it in a rational way, they both lost."
Kitts was tearing the bathroom walls out of an 83-year-old home near Lake Erie in 2006 when he discovered two green metal lockboxes suspended inside a wall below the medicine chest, hanging from a wire. Inside were white envelopes with the return address for "P. Dunne News Agency."
"I ripped the corner off of one," Kitts said during a deposition in a lawsuit filed by Dunne's estate. "I saw a 50 and got a little dizzy."
He called Reece, a former high school classmate who had hired him for a remodeling project.
They counted the cash and posed for photographs, both grinning like lottery jackpot winners.
But how to share? She offered 10 percent. He wanted 40 percent. From there things went sour.
A month after The Plain Dealer reported on the case in December 2007, Dunne's estate got involved, suing for the right to the money.
By then there was little left to claim.
Reece testified in a deposition that she spent about $14,000 on a trip to Hawaii and had sold some of the rare late 1920s bills. She said about $60,000 was stolen from a shoe box in her closet but testified that she never reported the theft to police.
Kitts said Reece accused him of stealing the money and began leaving him threatening phone messages. Marcinkevicius doesn't believe the money was stolen but said he couldn't prove otherwise.
Reece's phone number has been disconnected, and her attorney Robert Lazzaro did not return a call seeking comment. There were no court records showing that Reece had filed for bankruptcy.
Kitts said he lost a lot of business because media reports on the case portrayed him as greedy, but he feels vindicated by the court's decision to give him a share.
"I was not the bad guy that everybody made me out to be," Kitts said. "I didn't do anything wrong."
He's often asked why he didn't keep his mouth shut and pocket the money. He says he wasn't raised that way.
"It was a neat experience, something that won't happen again," Kitts said. "In that regard, it was pretty fascinating; seeing that amount of money in front of you was breathtaking. In that regard, I don't regret it.
"The threats and all — that's the part that makes you wish it never happened."
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Barack Obama wins race to become US president
From: WalesOnline
BARACK Obama has made history by becoming the first black president of the United States.
His era-changing victory came as he won a series of key battleground states, winning Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Mr Obama led his Republican rival John McCain by 297 votes to 139 as he passed the magic number of 270 needed to win the presidency at 4am GMT.
Celebrations ignited in Kenya, where the president-elect's father had once been a goatherd.
The 47-year-old Illinois senator will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20 next year.
Hundreds of thousands of people erupted into loud cheers in and around Grant Park in downtown Chicago, the scene of Mr Obama’s historic victory rally.
A President Obama, with his strong message of change, hope and unity, will herald a new era in US politics, bring a more multilateral approach to the world’s challenges, and perhaps transform the issue of race in America.
He has pledged to tackle the global financial crisis from day one, end the war in Iraq and unveil an ambitious energy plan to tackle climate change.
When he addressed the victory rally he told the cheering crowd: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, here is your answer."
Demonstrating the rhetorical skills which have defined his campaign, he said: "It's the answer that let those who had been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we could achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more towards the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
He added: "A little bit earlier this evening I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader."
In Ohio, Mr Obama had the help of Governor Ted Strickland, previously a supporter of his former rival Hillary Clinton, as he won over rural areas which went strongly in her favour in the Democratic primary election.
Pennsylvania, another state where Mr Obama lost to Mrs Clinton in the Democratic primary election, was also at the centre of his only gaffe of the campaign, when he told a San Francisco fundraiser that economic frustrations had made small-town Pennsylvania voters "bitter" and driven them to "cling to guns or religion".
But despite this he won the support of the state’s voters and its 21 electoral votes tonight, giving him a significant boost in the race for the White House.
It was seen as a must-win state by the McCain campaign and the campaign was aggressive there.
Pennsylvania went into the election with more than 8.7 million registered voters, a record number. The increase was primarily caused by Democrats, and the Democratic Party had more than a million more registered voters in the state than the Republicans.
On the campaign trail, Mr Obama told the state’s workers, and its unemployed, that Republicans had abandoned them and promised to invest in technologies that would create jobs and cut middle-class taxes to help families pay their bills.
Mr Obama also won New Hampshire, the scene of two great comebacks for Mr McCain and Mrs Clinton during the primary season – memories which he will now be able to put behind him.
Once seen as Republican, New Hampshire was decided by thin margins in the past two presidential elections and was the only state in the nation to vote for Mr Bush in 2000 and then for Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004.
The jubilant crowd of thousands in Grant Park in downtown Chicago - on an unseasonably mild night - were confident Mr Obama would win the presidency by dawn.
They reacted each time the Democrat was announced the winner in another state, with the cheers becoming particularly loud when Pennsylvania and Ohio fell.
Mr Obama also won Iowa, where his landmark run for the presidency began in January with a surprisingly strong victory in the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
A national CNN exit poll showed the US economy was the number one issue for 62% of voters, followed by the Iraq war (10%), terrorism and healthcare (both 9%) and energy policy (7%).
Earlier, in keeping with tradition, voting began at the stroke of midnight in a handful of remote towns in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.
The residents of Dixville Notch have been meeting in the town’s ballot room at midnight each election day since 1960.
Mr Obama won the town’s poll by 15 votes to six for Mr McCain – a landslide victory after more than 40 years of Republican loyalty.
Meanwhile Mr McCain took 15 states including: Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, West Virginia, Louisiana, Utah, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi.
Veteran politician Joe Biden will be the next vice president of the United States.
Mr McCain conceded the election with his wife Cindy and running mate Sarah Palin at his side in Phoenix, Arizona.
"We have come to the end of a long journey," he said
"The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly."
Mr Obama asked his Republican rival for help in leading the country as Mr McCain conceded defeat.
Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama told his rival: "I need your help, you’re a leader on so many important issues."
Mr McCain called Mr Obama at 11pm EST (4am GMT), moments after the Illinois senator was declared the next president, Mr Gibbs said.
He added that the Democrat thanked Mr McCain for his graciousness and said he had waged a tough race.
Mr Obama also said the 72-year-old Arizona senator was consistently someone who had showed class and honour during this campaign, as he had during his entire life in public service, his campaign said.
“That is for the American people to decide and we will have the result very soon,” he said during his tour of the Gulf.
“What I do know is that American leadership is going to be very important in the next critical time and I look forward to working with the next president whoever he is.
“I think whatever the result of the American election... history has been made in this campaign – the women coming to the fore, a black candidate coming to the fore. But it is for the American people to decide, it is their decision.”
BARACK Obama has made history by becoming the first black president of the United States.
His era-changing victory came as he won a series of key battleground states, winning Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Mr Obama led his Republican rival John McCain by 297 votes to 139 as he passed the magic number of 270 needed to win the presidency at 4am GMT.
Celebrations ignited in Kenya, where the president-elect's father had once been a goatherd.
The 47-year-old Illinois senator will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20 next year.
Hundreds of thousands of people erupted into loud cheers in and around Grant Park in downtown Chicago, the scene of Mr Obama’s historic victory rally.
A President Obama, with his strong message of change, hope and unity, will herald a new era in US politics, bring a more multilateral approach to the world’s challenges, and perhaps transform the issue of race in America.
He has pledged to tackle the global financial crisis from day one, end the war in Iraq and unveil an ambitious energy plan to tackle climate change.
When he addressed the victory rally he told the cheering crowd: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, here is your answer."
Demonstrating the rhetorical skills which have defined his campaign, he said: "It's the answer that let those who had been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we could achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more towards the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
He added: "A little bit earlier this evening I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader."
In Ohio, Mr Obama had the help of Governor Ted Strickland, previously a supporter of his former rival Hillary Clinton, as he won over rural areas which went strongly in her favour in the Democratic primary election.
Pennsylvania, another state where Mr Obama lost to Mrs Clinton in the Democratic primary election, was also at the centre of his only gaffe of the campaign, when he told a San Francisco fundraiser that economic frustrations had made small-town Pennsylvania voters "bitter" and driven them to "cling to guns or religion".
But despite this he won the support of the state’s voters and its 21 electoral votes tonight, giving him a significant boost in the race for the White House.
It was seen as a must-win state by the McCain campaign and the campaign was aggressive there.
Pennsylvania went into the election with more than 8.7 million registered voters, a record number. The increase was primarily caused by Democrats, and the Democratic Party had more than a million more registered voters in the state than the Republicans.
On the campaign trail, Mr Obama told the state’s workers, and its unemployed, that Republicans had abandoned them and promised to invest in technologies that would create jobs and cut middle-class taxes to help families pay their bills.
Mr Obama also won New Hampshire, the scene of two great comebacks for Mr McCain and Mrs Clinton during the primary season – memories which he will now be able to put behind him.
Once seen as Republican, New Hampshire was decided by thin margins in the past two presidential elections and was the only state in the nation to vote for Mr Bush in 2000 and then for Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004.
The jubilant crowd of thousands in Grant Park in downtown Chicago - on an unseasonably mild night - were confident Mr Obama would win the presidency by dawn.
They reacted each time the Democrat was announced the winner in another state, with the cheers becoming particularly loud when Pennsylvania and Ohio fell.
Mr Obama also won Iowa, where his landmark run for the presidency began in January with a surprisingly strong victory in the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
A national CNN exit poll showed the US economy was the number one issue for 62% of voters, followed by the Iraq war (10%), terrorism and healthcare (both 9%) and energy policy (7%).
Earlier, in keeping with tradition, voting began at the stroke of midnight in a handful of remote towns in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.
The residents of Dixville Notch have been meeting in the town’s ballot room at midnight each election day since 1960.
Mr Obama won the town’s poll by 15 votes to six for Mr McCain – a landslide victory after more than 40 years of Republican loyalty.
Meanwhile Mr McCain took 15 states including: Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, West Virginia, Louisiana, Utah, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi.
Veteran politician Joe Biden will be the next vice president of the United States.
Mr McCain conceded the election with his wife Cindy and running mate Sarah Palin at his side in Phoenix, Arizona.
"We have come to the end of a long journey," he said
"The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly."
Mr Obama asked his Republican rival for help in leading the country as Mr McCain conceded defeat.
Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama told his rival: "I need your help, you’re a leader on so many important issues."
Mr McCain called Mr Obama at 11pm EST (4am GMT), moments after the Illinois senator was declared the next president, Mr Gibbs said.
He added that the Democrat thanked Mr McCain for his graciousness and said he had waged a tough race.
Mr Obama also said the 72-year-old Arizona senator was consistently someone who had showed class and honour during this campaign, as he had during his entire life in public service, his campaign said.
“That is for the American people to decide and we will have the result very soon,” he said during his tour of the Gulf.
“What I do know is that American leadership is going to be very important in the next critical time and I look forward to working with the next president whoever he is.
“I think whatever the result of the American election... history has been made in this campaign – the women coming to the fore, a black candidate coming to the fore. But it is for the American people to decide, it is their decision.”
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
SOPHIA CHANG AND MATTHEW CHAYES
October 29, 2008 Leah Walsh, 29, is a special-education teacher at the School for Language and Communication Development in Glen Cove who has been married to William Walsh Jr. for about three years, the family and Nassau County police said yesterday.
Walsh, who disappeared Monday, had worked near Tampa, Fla., before she came to New York, said Howard Hirschel, her father.
She earned her master's degree from Molloy College in Rockville Centre last May.
Leah Walsh and her husband, who have no children, lived in Rockville Centre for a time, then recently moved to Marbourne Road in Bethpage, Hirschel said.
A neighbor from across the street said that the couple had lived there for about six months.
Leah Hirschel Walsh's My-Space page says she studied communications-sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating in 2006, then studied special education at Molloy.
"We're sitting on the edge of our chairs," said Peggy Walsh of East Northport, William Walsh's grandmother.
Walsh, who disappeared Monday, had worked near Tampa, Fla., before she came to New York, said Howard Hirschel, her father.
She earned her master's degree from Molloy College in Rockville Centre last May.
Leah Walsh and her husband, who have no children, lived in Rockville Centre for a time, then recently moved to Marbourne Road in Bethpage, Hirschel said.
A neighbor from across the street said that the couple had lived there for about six months.
Leah Hirschel Walsh's My-Space page says she studied communications-sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating in 2006, then studied special education at Molloy.
"We're sitting on the edge of our chairs," said Peggy Walsh of East Northport, William Walsh's grandmother.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Marshall quarterback Mark Cann threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Thundering Herd never trailed in their 37-23 win over Houston on Tuesday night.
Cann connected with Cody Slate on a 9-yard touchdown pass, and Craig Ratanamorn kicked all three of his field goals in the first half to put Marshall (4-4, 3-1 Conference USA) up 16-3 at halftime.
Tough Break
Patrick Edwards, the Houston WR who suffered a gruesome leg injury on Tuesday, is no joke as a player. The freshman entered the night 28th in FBS in terms of receiving yards per game at 86.3 YPG. That's second in FBS play among freshmen.
Patrick EdwardsHouston Freshman WR
FBS Rank
Rank among FR
Rec YPG
86.3
28th
2nd
Rec PG
6.1
T-28th
2nd
Rec yards
604
38th
3rd
Emmanuel Spann caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Cann, and the quarterback scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter. Darius Marshall, who led Marshall with 107 yards rushing, ran 22 yards for the Herd's final score in the fourth.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Cougars. They lost tackle Josh Bell to a torn Achilles tendon then later lost freshman wide receiver Patrick Edwards after he suffered a serious leg injury in the third quarter.
Edwards, running deep for a pass from Blake Joseph, ran out of the back of the end zone into a band equipment cart parked just beyond the out-of-bounds line. The impact, captured by ESPN's cameras, caused a compound fracture of Edwards' right leg according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cougars coach Kevin Sumlin told the Chronicle that while he had "his opinions" on the subject, he would offer no comment on such a dangerous situation. Houston athletics director Dave Maggard said he will pursue the subject with Marshall officials.
"It was duly noted and I think we'll save the conversation for another day," Maggard told the Chronicle. "I don't think there is any question that it is a problem. We all noticed it, and we want to find out why something like that would occur. It was a serious injury, no question about it."
Houston (4-4, 3-1) quarterback Case Keenum completed 22 of 41 passes for a season low of 317 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. However, the game was Keenum's school-record-setting ninth consecutive with at least 300 yards passing.
Bryce Beall led Houston with 68 yards rushing on 14 carries, and scored one touchdown.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Cann connected with Cody Slate on a 9-yard touchdown pass, and Craig Ratanamorn kicked all three of his field goals in the first half to put Marshall (4-4, 3-1 Conference USA) up 16-3 at halftime.
Tough Break
Patrick Edwards, the Houston WR who suffered a gruesome leg injury on Tuesday, is no joke as a player. The freshman entered the night 28th in FBS in terms of receiving yards per game at 86.3 YPG. That's second in FBS play among freshmen.
Patrick EdwardsHouston Freshman WR
FBS Rank
Rank among FR
Rec YPG
86.3
28th
2nd
Rec PG
6.1
T-28th
2nd
Rec yards
604
38th
3rd
Emmanuel Spann caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Cann, and the quarterback scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter. Darius Marshall, who led Marshall with 107 yards rushing, ran 22 yards for the Herd's final score in the fourth.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Cougars. They lost tackle Josh Bell to a torn Achilles tendon then later lost freshman wide receiver Patrick Edwards after he suffered a serious leg injury in the third quarter.
Edwards, running deep for a pass from Blake Joseph, ran out of the back of the end zone into a band equipment cart parked just beyond the out-of-bounds line. The impact, captured by ESPN's cameras, caused a compound fracture of Edwards' right leg according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cougars coach Kevin Sumlin told the Chronicle that while he had "his opinions" on the subject, he would offer no comment on such a dangerous situation. Houston athletics director Dave Maggard said he will pursue the subject with Marshall officials.
"It was duly noted and I think we'll save the conversation for another day," Maggard told the Chronicle. "I don't think there is any question that it is a problem. We all noticed it, and we want to find out why something like that would occur. It was a serious injury, no question about it."
Houston (4-4, 3-1) quarterback Case Keenum completed 22 of 41 passes for a season low of 317 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. However, the game was Keenum's school-record-setting ninth consecutive with at least 300 yards passing.
Bryce Beall led Houston with 68 yards rushing on 14 carries, and scored one touchdown.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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