This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Friday morning feel good stories

    Friday morning feel good stories

    UpNorth sends us a link from Kalamazoo, Michigan;

    The [Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety] says officers arrived at the scene to find a 46-year-old man who had been shot “at least once” in the torso. He was conscious. Investigators say, preliminarily, it appears the gunshot victim was “breaking into a home when the occupant shot him.”

    But Kalamazoo Public Safety is still looking into the matter. It says there are no outstanding suspects or threat to the public.

    From Louisville, Kentucky;

    A woman in Louisville, Kentucky, is thankful to her rescue pit bull for saving her during a home invasion.

    WAVE reported that Kelsey Leachman was in her living room Monday watching TV when her pit bull, Layla, started became agitated.

    “She started barking and ran into the kitchen and I could tell by the way she was growling something wasn’t right,” Leachman told WAVE.

    A man was standing in her kitchen. Leachman ran for the door and the man ran after her, knocking her to the floor.

    “The whole time Layla was barking and biting his legs and going crazy, and I was kicking and screaming,” Leachman said.

    Leachman was able to push the intruder away as Layla bit him. The man ran outside, and Leachman locked the door and called police.

    From Wales, Wisconsin;

    Investigators have identified the intruder who died during a home invasion back in May.

    According to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office, 33-year-old Brandon Kovacs got into a fight with a 76-year-old homeowner on May 30. During the fight, Kovacs became unconscious and unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

    From Dayton, Ohio;

    A 23-year-old man who shot another man multiple times tonight told police he shot his would-be robber.

    Police were called at 7:30 p.m. to the Marathon gas station and convenience store at 119 N. James H. McGee Blvd. in Dayton.

    The 911 caller said the other man, who also was armed, fled in a blue Chevrolet Cruze, but not before he dropped his gun, according to the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center.

    The shooting victim, a 22-year-old man, was shot multiple times, Dayton police Lt. Steven Bauer said.

    A worker said the incident happened at one of the gas pumps.

    The gunshot victim was found inside his car a short distance away, on Home Avenue near U.S. 35 and was taken to Miami Valley Hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, the lieutenant said.

    Yellow crime scene tape surrounded the parking lot, and the shooter was in back of a cruiser while police investigated and the Marathon station and Subway restaurant inside were closed.

    From Little Rock, Arkansas;

    Edricus Drains, 37, of Little Rock told police that as he pulled up to his apartment, he saw three people acting suspicious nearby and placed a firearm into his pocket.

    Drains said that someone, identified in the report as 30-year-old Tony Robinson of Little Rock, began assaulting him and reaching into his pockets as he got out his truck. Robinson grabbed Drains’ firearm, at which point a fight began over the weapon, police said.

    According to the report, Drains fired up to three rounds at Robinson initially before firing four more rounds when Robinson refused to let go of the weapon.

    Drains then ran to the complex’s front office, handed his gun to a security officer and told the official to call police, he told authorities.

    Robinson was found lying on the ground surrounded by a “large amount of blood,” the report states. Police noted that he suffered bullet wounds in his abdomen.

    An officer said he applied a chest seal to one wound that was “bleeding heavily” on the right side of his abdomen. While doing so, another wound was found in Robinson’s upper left thigh, he added.

    Lt. Michael Ford, a spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, said that Robinson went into surgery around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in critical but stable condition. His condition was not known as of Wednesday.

  • Dean Crouch tackles armed thief, then he’s fired by Academy Sports

    According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Dean Crouch, the manager of the local Academy Sports store, tackled Jason White as White sprinted from the store with a stolen handgun. He had ammunition and magazines in his backpack when he was subdued by Crouch.

    “Academy has decided to, instead of treating him like the hero he is, they terminated his employment effective immediately because he put his hands on Mr. White,” Crouch’s attorney Ryan Hobbs said.

    Just hours before he was taken into custody, White stole two handguns from Cash America Pawn on South Adams Street, according to Tallahassee Police.

    White asked to look at the handgun at the firearms counter [in Academy]. He was handed the gun, then ran toward the front door.

    Crouch, who court records say observed the transaction at the counter, and another employee tackled and subdued White at the exit doors and recovered the gun, a stolen backpack, five boxes of ammunition and two magazines for the Glock.

    Academy Sports hid behind the “personnel issues” excuse to avoid the media;

    “While the incident ended without injury, actions inconsistent with corporate policies were taken,” [Academy Sports spokeswoman Elise Hasbrook] said. “We addressed the matter with the local store and individuals involved.”

    Crouch worked at the store for more than two years and is married with a family and has no way to support them.

    Company policy or no, someone needed to take action to stop a madman from running around town with a loaded gun and Mr Crouch did something.

  • Norks are no-shows at repatriation talks

    Norks are no-shows at repatriation talks

    According to Stars & Stripes, the North Korean delegation was a no-show at scheduled talks for repatriation of servicemembers’ remains at Panmunjom today;

    The no-show fuels growing skepticism over the North’s commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula as promised during the June 12 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the talks would be held in the truce village of Panmunjom after his fraught visit to North Korea last week, although he added the caveat that “it could move by one day or two.”

    Officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency traveled to the U.N.-controlled area in the heavily fortified border for the meeting but the North Koreans never showed up, according to official sources.

    South Korean media also reported that the North Koreans didn’t show up, citing government officials.

    This is my shocked face. While I hoped against hope, I kind of figured that the North Koreans were just playing games. There’s still time for them to salvage the talks and peace on the peninsula, but my money is staying in the bank.

  • Marine Sergeant Tyler Harman saving the world

    Marine Sergeant Tyler Harman saving the world

    Marine Sergeant Tyler Harman was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal when he saved the life of 2 year-old Rylan Strother who was choking on a grape, according to WSBTV;

    Harman, an instructor with the base’s Marine Aviation Training Support Group 23, lives next door to [Rylan’s mother, Amber] Strother and answered the door Feb. 1 when she made a panicked plea for help.

    Harman told his wife to call 911 and then turned the toddler over so that he could hit his back and try to dislodge the grape that the boy had grabbed out of the refrigerator on his own.

    “He was scared and he was clenching his teeth,” Harman said. “He had started to get a little blue and he was starting to choke up blood.”

    Harman continued his efforts to dislodge the grape and eventually was able to get his fingers inside the child’s throat and remove the grape. When paramedics arrived, Rylan was breathing on his own. A quick trip to the emergency room confirmed the child was fine.

    Harman didn’t tell his fellow Marines about the life-or-death incident, but Rylan’s grandfather reached out to leaders of his squadron and told them what happened.

    […]

    Harman said he learned CPR and other life-saving skills during routine training.

    He told his fellow Marines that the incident shows how important even the most mundane training can be.

    “I hope for you Marines that you understand that there is a reason for all the training you get while you are here, even something as simple as a three-hour CPR class,” he said.

    Thanks to AW1Ed for the tip.

  • Sacha Baron Cohen’s Stolen Valor

    Sacha Baron Cohen’s Stolen Valor

    Folks are coming out of the woodwork exposing Sacha Baron Cohen for his latest buffoonery pretending to be an injured veteran, complete with wheelchair, for his new show on Showtime. In this persona, Cohen interviewed Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and former Congressman Joe Walsh.

    Yesterday, Sarah Palin wrote a blog post claiming that Cohen disguised himself as a disabled veteran for an interview with her and calling Cohen’s humor “evil, exploitive, sick.” Now congressman turned radio host Joe Walsh has shared his own experience. Walsh says Cohen’s team flew him to D.C. and booked him a hotel room for a fake pro-Israel event that honored him with an award for his “Significant Contributions to the State of Israel.”

    From The Hollywood Reporter;

    “Out of respect for what I was led to believe would be a thoughtful discussion with someone who had served in uniform, I sat through a long ‘interview’ full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm — but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out, much to Cohen’s chagrin,” Palin elaborated. “The disrespect of our U.S. military and middle-class Americans via Cohen’s foreign commentaries under the guise of interview questions was perverse.”

    Palin, who served as the ninth Governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009, then offered a “challenge” to Cohen, CBS and Showtime.

    “Donate all proceeds to a charitable group that actually respects and supports American Vets. Mock politicians and innocent public personalities all you want, if that lets you sleep at night, but HOW DARE YOU mock those who have fought and served our country,” she wrote, adding, “Truly sick.”

    Palin also claimed that “the Cohen/CBS/Showtime production team purposefully dropped my daughter and me off at the wrong Washington, DC airport after the fake interview, knowing we’d miss all flights back home to Alaska.” She added, “I wrote this off as yet another example of the sick nature that is media-slash-entertainment today.”

    […]

    In a teaser for Cohen’s satirical half-hour series, released via Instagram, the comic — presumably in character — can be heard asking former Vice President Dick Cheney to sign his “waterboard kit.” Cheney is seen signing something and then jokes, “That’s the first time I’ve ever signed a waterboard.”

    Of course, Showtime says that Cohen is a comedy genius “who shocks you with his audacity, bravery and inventiveness” when, in truth, he’s just another drone playing to the Hollywood crowd.

  • James Kauffman’s fake military service deadly for his wife

    James Kauffman’s fake military service deadly for his wife

    The Press of Atlantic City tells the story of Dr. James Kaufman who pretended to be a Vietnam War Special Forces veteran. He was so dependent on people believing his tales that he eventually murdered his wife, April, a veterans’ advocate.

    April Kauffman, 47, was found by a caretaker shot twice on May 10, 2012, in the bedroom of her Linwood home. Five years later, Kauffman was arrested on weapons and obstruction charges resulting from a 45-minute armed standoff with police as they attempted to execute the search warrant.

    In January, after he was charged in April’s murder, James Kauffman, 69, died inside the Hudson County jail, where he apparently hanged himself.

    It was our partners at Guardians of the Green Beret who exposed Kaufman’s lies. They discovered that he had never served in any branch of the military;

    After her murder, friends of April Kauffman told investigators it was James Kauffman’s alleged military service that attracted April to him in the first place, according to the warrant.

    “However, within a year of her murder, April became aware that Dr. Kauffman had never served in Armed Forces and was not a veteran in any capacity,” the warrant states. “It is known that April was devastated by this revelation and it is believed that she threatened to use this information to procure a beneficial divorce from him.”

    Kauffman wore a green beret and fatigue uniforms to his wife’s veteran events according to witnesses;

    Atlantic County Director of Veterans Services Bob Frolow…who first met April Kauffman about seven years ago at a breakfast at the former Northfield Diner before joining her on several veterans projects, said although James Kauffman never told him explicitly he was a veteran, he did things like wearing a green beret or fatigues to insinuate that he was.

    “Little things where you would assume he was a veteran,” Frolow said. “He would make little innuendos that he was in the service.”

    I wouldn’t recommend murder to cover up stolen valor fraud, and I guess Dr Kauffman wouldn’t at this point, either.

  • Earl Woolery arrested

    Earl Woolery arrested

    Back in May, we talked about Earl Woolery, a US Army veteran currently living in Canada. He deployed to Lincoln, Nebraska for Desert Storm.

    Well, our partners at Stolen Valour – Canada tell us that he turned himself in yesterday to the local constabulary, the Ontario Provincial Police. He’s been charged with theft under $5000, fraud under $5000, criminal breach of trust, falsification of books/documents and the S419 charge relating to the medals he wears that may not be his.

    Apparently, his thievery was committed when he stole from the Poppy Fund which the Royal Canadian Legion administers and provides financial assistance and support to Veterans, including Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP, and their families who are in need.

    Woolery will appear in court on August 9th to answer for these charges.

    Wherever you lie about your service, we’ll find you.

  • Thursday morning feel good stories

    Thursday morning feel good stories

    From Memphis, Tennessee;

    An East Memphis homeowner had to defend himself with a pair of wire cutters after his wife said a barefooted man with dreadlocks appeared in his garage and began attacking him Sunday.

    Donna Crisp said it happened around 3:30 p.m. at their home on the 2000 block of Kirby Parkway as her husband was working on one of the patriotic signs he periodically places around the neighborhood.

    “When he [the suspect] started putting his hands around his neck, he [the victim] started hitting at him as much as he could trying to get the release,” Crisp said.

    But the terror didn’t end there. Crisp said the suspect made his way into the family home and began rummaging through the place.

    “I’m like, ‘What are you doing? Stop doing that!’ You know, ‘Get away!’ and then I kicked him — gently, but I’ve never kicked anybody, anything before,” Crisp said.

    Crisp said the man was in her home for several minutes before emerging with her purse and car keys.

    He then jumped into her black Nissan Murano, she said, but her husband and neighbors were waiting for him with a shovel and a gun.

    “They’re hitting him with the shovel and trying to point the gun at him,” she said.

    Crisp said it didn’t seem to faze him as much as they had hoped. At that point, he already had the engine running and began backing up.

    “The door’s hanging open, that knocks my husband over and hurts his hand,” Crisp said.

    The suspect took off, demolishing the Crisps’ mailbox in the process.

    Her neighbors chased him on the freeway, but eventually lost sight of him.

    From Des Moines, Iowa;

    Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said the store owner discovered the burglary in progress when he arrived at the store, finding a pickup truck loaded with his merchandise. There front door of the business was also broken in.

    There was a confrontation between the store owner and the suspect, and the store owner fatally shot the burglary suspect, according to police.

    According to police, no one has been charged in the incident.

    Parizek says it looks like a “stand your ground” case, but a decision on any charges will come from the Polk County attorney’s office.

    The Iowa law says people don’t have to retreat before using deadly force if they think their lives are being threatened.

    From Janesville, California;

    Authorities say the man was travelling at speeds of upwards of 105 mph on US-395 near Honey Lake.

    The officer lost sight of the suspect a short time later due to excessive speeds.

    Police located the suspect’s vehicle on northbound Ponderosa Boulevard. The officer then contacted the man who refused to obey commands.

    The man fled from authorities which ensued a chase with police.

    CHP – Susanville says the man lost control of his truck during the pursuit in the area of Ponderosa Boulevard and Hicks Road causing a crash. The man struck a car traveling southbound causing injuries.

    The man left the scene of the crash on foot and entered a residential area on the south side of Hicks Road.

    Authorities say the man armed himself and broke into a nearby home.

    When the man was inside the unknown residence, he was able to get away with a set of car keys.

    The suspect then left the home in the stolen vehicle.

    The homeowner armed himself with a handgun and confronted the man.

    Police say the homeowner fired a single shot at the man after he lurched at him in the stolen vehicle.

    The male suspect was pronounced dead on the scene. His identity has not yet been released.

    From Boonville, Missouri;

    The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office later spoke with the customer, who said he saw a man inside the store acting “suspicious,” so he stayed around the area to watch his next move.

    Then the man allegedly went up to the cash register and demanded money. The man had a small knife and hammer, KOMU reported, citing a witness statement.

    But [Jim] Hayes stepped in.

    “When the suspect approached the register and began to demand the money, the patron was able to intervene with his concealed firearm and held the suspect in the store until law enforcement arrived,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.

    The suspect was identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Elijah D. Carter, 26, of Kansas City. Carter has since been charged with first-degree attempted robbery, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and receiving stolen property. He remained in the county jail Tuesday with bail set at $150,000.