Seattle Man Pleads Guilty to Beating Homeless
SEATTLE – A man who police say beat a homeless man in an attack linked to a white supremacist group has accepted a plea agreement.
According to the Seattle Times, David Nikos Platos of Tacoma plead guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 42-year old Randall Townsend. His girlfriend also plead guilty to second-degree murder. As part of their pleas, both will testify against two others charged with aggravated murder.
Policy say the defendants planned last month’s attach so that one of them could earn “red shoelaces” in the white supremacist movement. The victim, however, was also white.
Crackdown to Rid Schoolyards of Homeless
CALGARY, Canada – From 2000 to 2002, the number of homeless people at Calgary’s homeless shelters rose by 30%. But that won’t stop the largest shelter in Alberta’s capital from closing its doors this spring.
The Calgary Drop-In Centre faces a cash crisis that could shut it down as soon as May 1. In 2002, the Drop-In Centre and the city’s four other facilities sheltered 14,181 separate individuals.
“That is really unacceptable in Canada and partciluarly in ALberta,” Floyd Perras of the Mustard Seed Street Ministry told the Calgary Sun. “You feel a hopelessness for these individuals.”
Calgary’s Largest Shelter Faces Shutdown
VANCOUVER, Canada – A local politician is calling on citizens to organize patrols of schoolyards in the West End neighborhood of the city, where, says Liberal Party representative Lorne Mayencourt, the homeless and the addicted are increasingly loitering.
Mayencourt blames the hangouts on a police crackdown forcing addicts out of the Downtown Eastside, the city’s historic slum neighborhood. But Vancouver School Board trustee Andrea Reimer says cleaning up needles and crack pipes from playgrounds is only a half-measure.
The people creating the problem, she told CBC News, “don’t go away. They just leave that neighborhood. ANd they’re going to go to other neighborhoods.” Reimer says a longer-term solution would include more money for drug treatment and housing.
Louisville Homeless Now Have Bike Access
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A new bicycle lending and ownership program for the homeless is underway in Kentucky.
WAVE 3 Television reports the project, started by Wayside Christian Mission of Louisville, will give homeless people a transportation option through a bicycle lending facility. The 12-bike program is expecting to go citywide by the end of the year.
Students Spend Spring Break at Shelter
Instead of spending spring break hitting the beach and partying, some Minnesota college students decided to use their time to help those in need. Seven women and four men spent their tie volunteering at a homeless shelter in Florida, doing everything from painting and casework to sorting clothes and fixing church pews. According to the Sun Sentinel, they also hit the streets.
“They did some street outreach ride-alongs adn went under bridges and to local parks,” says Diane Bates, executive director of the shelter. For some it was their second spring break spent at the shelter.
“They not only bring the work that they do in terms of physical labor, but they also bring up our morale. They’re really inspiring. It’s a privilege for us to have them,” says shelter resident Mariana Mayers.
