| Fire leaves 1 dead, another in critical condition
One woman died and another remained in critical condition at Brooke Army Medical Center Sunday after the East Side home where they were living caught on fire, an official said. The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the woman's death and identified her as Martha Fragosa Campos, 47. Hers was the fourth known fire-related death in San Antonio since the beginning of the year, said San Antonio Fire Department District Chief Randy Jenkins. A fire last weekend at a West Side home claimed the lives of husband and wife Guadalupe and Carlota Garcia, both in their 80s and confined to wheelchairs. They survived the initial blaze but died later that week in the hospital. On Jan. 17, a disabled man perished in a fire on West Theo. In the case of Sunday's fire, the smoke detector was disarmed, its lid hanging open, according to San Antonio Fire Department District Chief Neal Nye.
Deputy ticketed for illegal parking
NEW LENOX -- A New Lenox man said he was "just amazed" to find a Will County sheriff's office squad car parked in a handicapped parking space on a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon. So amazed that he went back to his home, off Laraway Road, and returned with his digital camera to El Burrito Loco Restaurant, in the 300 block of West Lincoln Highway, New Lenox, to photograph the illegally parked squad car. .
Of chemical castration
The recent suggestion that repeat sex offenders should be clinically castrated to eliminate or otherwise drastically reduce their unwholesome urge has received very little public reaction. Indeed, it did not even last nine days on the gossip verandahs. Perhaps this was because it came from an attractive, young professional; had it been proposed by a politician - whew, wow! It may surprise those who know my support for hanging, that I have serious reservations about this form of punishment. Not for me is the thought that "it is worse than death"! No, the main reason for this ambivalence is my fear that removing this urge could have the effect of creating angry and violent men who might channel their frustration into deeds even more repugnant than the act they had committed for which they were punished.
Disabled get job-search help
Abilities of Florida provides support for disabled people looking for work through free career counseling services and job fairs. BY ELAINE AYO Special to The Miami Herald Yasmin Hernandez didn't want to let her hearing impairment impede her ability to get a job when she moved to Miami a few years ago. It didn't. With the help of Brenda Ocampo, a career counselor with Abilities of Florida, the 33-year-old was able to maneuver applications and interviews. ''Brenda taught me how to fill out an application through the Internet and provided communication with my employer,'' Hernandez said with the help of Ocampo, who is trained in American Sign Language. ``She helped me overcome barriers to employment through communication with ASL.'' The Miami-Dade branch of Abilities of Florida, a state-wide nonprofit, focuses on helping young Hispanics with disabilities enter the workforce after high school.
Stacy Kohut: Paralympic and World Champion Talks about Wheelchair ...
Stacy Kohut is a world class athlete. Internationally known for skiing, Stacy has competed in elite competitions from Lillehammer, Norway to Nagano, Japan. Although he has won many medals and appeared in major media campaigns alongside superstars such as Ian Thorpe, Muhammad Ali, and David Beckham, Stacy is far from being a house hold name. Why? Stacy Kohut is an athlete who happens to be in a wheelchair.Stacy has made it to the upper echelons of his sports but is striving to receive the recognition and reward usually won by top athletes. Despite his efforts, he is still trying to find an agent to represent him and an organization to engage him as a spokesperson. Dr Gene Emmer from Wheelchair interviewed Stacy to learn more about the challenges and motivations of wheelchair athletes. Stacy believes that part of the problem is that disabled sportspeople need to be seen as athletes first.
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