Shouts, screams and shots like 'firecrackers'
Los Angeles Times Nov 3, 08 4:01 AM CST
(Newser)
-
Three men and two women were shot dead yesterday in a mystery massacre at a California homeless encampment in Long Beach. Several residents in the area heard shouts, screams, and so many gunshots it sounded like fireworks, reports the Los Angeles Times .
More »
New leash on life for pets of struggling humans
Reuters Nov 2, 08 6:20 AM CST
(Newser)
-
Things are apparently woof all over—so Berliners have now opened a soup kitchen for dogs. Businesses have donated pet food and funds so that hounds belonging to homeless people and the unemployed can chow down. Organizers shrug off criticism that their efforts would be put to better use serving humans. Dogs are "incredibly important for those who lack social contact with other humans," a director told Reuters.
More »
Ohio ordered to count homeless ballots
Cleveland Plain Dealer Oct 29, 08 2:19 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
A federal judge has ruled that the homeless in Ohio can vote even if their place of residence is a bench or a street grate, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer . The US District Court has ordered Ohio authorities to count the votes of homeless people whether or not their ballots list a physical address. The ruling also protects ballots from being invalidated due to clerical errors made by poll workers.
More »
Many still wrangling with FEMA, other agencies, blast 'ridiculous lies'
Houston Chronicle Oct 16, 08 11:16 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The Red Cross will boot nearly 300 Hurricane Ike survivors from its remaining Houston shelter Sunday, the Chronicle reports, leaving them to the care of federal and local agencies some accuse of “ridiculous lies.” The possibility of transitional housing does little for one FEMA reject, who was told her still-soggy apartment was livable, but faces Child Protective Services action if she moves back.
More »
Scheme recruited LA's skid row denizens to bilk feds for unnecessary service fees
Associated Press Aug 6, 08 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The CEO of a Los Angeles hospital was arrested today for defrauding Medicare by using the city’s homeless to fill empty beds, the AP reports. The FBI says Rudra Sabaratnam, of City of Angels hospital, recruited the homeless in a scheme to charge for unnecessary health services and keep the funds. The FBI also arrested the operator of a skid-row shelter.
More »
First study to count homeless over a full year finds numbers down 15% in '07
Los Angeles Times Jul 30, 08 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
The number of chronically homeless Americans fell by 15% last year, a study has found. The survey is the first to track homelessness over a full year, the Los Angeles Times reports. Homeless advocates argue that the promising numbers may in part be due to different counting methods—and that a flood of foreclosures threaten a new wave of homelessness.
More »
'I'm a pretty tough guy,' 86-year-old homeless pedestrian says
Washington Post Jul 25, 08 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The pedestrian struck by Robert Novak's Corvette this week says that other than a dislocated shoulder, he’s “doing fine,” the Washington Post reports. In fact, Don Liljenquist seems more star-struck than car-struck: "Bob Novak is the one that hit me?" the homeless 86-year-old said in a radio interview. "He's a famous journalist! Well, I think that makes it a great story!"
More »
Pair killed two homeless men for life insurance
Los Angeles Times Jul 16, 08 1:43 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Two elderly women who carried out a cold-blooded scheme to murder homeless men have been sentenced to life without parole by a Los Angeles judge. Helen Golay, 77, and 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt—nicknamed the "Black Widows" in the media—lured two vagrants off the street, cared for them for two years, then murdered them for $2.8 million in life insurance, reports the Los Angeles Times .
More »
Bonded by loyalty, destitute only have each other
Nerve Jun 12, 08 7:02 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
Homeless couples have nothing to rely on but each other, Justin Clark writes on Nerve, but sometimes half the relationship is keeping the other on the streets. One Los Angeles couple has been together for 25 years, destitute since November. Paul abandoned computer studies, and his sole source of income, to help Sharon beat her drinking problem.
More »
They offer comfort to 2.4 million struggling to survive
New York Times May 31, 08 10:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
In the wake of Burma’s cyclone, Buddhist monks have become the only source of comfort—both “material” and “spiritual”—for many thousands of homeless and destitute who have been abandoned by the government, the New York Times reports. “Monks are like parents to us. The government wants us to shut up, but monks listen to us,” says one cyclone survivor.
More »
Hidden camera in kitchen captures squatter
Reuters May 30, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
A Japanese man was living with a woman—but he didn't know it. The Fukuoka, Japan, resident busted the squatter after noticing food disappearing from his kitchen and setting up a hidden camera, Reuters reports. He called police after the camera sent his phone pictures of the woman eating. Cops discovered a mattress and water bottles in an unused closet where she had apparently been living for months.
More »
UN official denounces coerced moves
BBC May 30, 08 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
The Burmese junta has reportedly begun closing shelters and telling cyclone victims to return to their decimated villages, a move that drew strong condemnation from a UN official, the BBC reports. Military leaders, apparently worried that the camps will become permanent aid centers, have given victims tents and bamboo poles and told them to rebuild their lives, says a UNICEF official.
More »
YouTube helped fighter Kevin Ferguson pull himself up from homeless to famous
ESPN May 27, 08 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser)
-
ESPN takes the measure of Kimbo Slice, streetfighting YouTube star and soon-to-be network TV darling, when mixed martial arts makes its broadcast TV debut Friday."Kimbo combines Mike Tyson's mystique and Mr. T's personality," Dan le Batard writes of the man who hit it big when a video of one of his street brawls racked up 2 million hits on a porn site. He loves to kick ass, but has never been a bully.
More »
City, aiming to cut panhandling, will give change to non-profits
San Francisco Chronicle May 13, 08 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser)
-
San Francisco’s got a new plan to address panhandling: The city is installing old parking meters in popular begging areas where passers-by can drop their spare change rather than giving it to panhandlers. The money will go to local non-profits to help the homeless, the Chronicle reports. “We're not helping these individuals by handing out cash” directly, says the city’s mayor.
More »