“Teens 'likely' to face charges after fatal collision - radionz” plus 4 more |
- Teens 'likely' to face charges after fatal collision - radionz
- Musing about a painless death got man a painful humiliation - Globe and Mail
- Motorcyclist killed in crash victim of boy racers - police - Stuff
- Another big weekend at Millville track - Daily Journal
- Charlotte: Pre-event news, schedule - Motorsport.com
| Teens 'likely' to face charges after fatal collision - radionz Posted: 14 Sep 2009 09:14 PM PDT Two teenagers are likely to face charges after one of their cars struck and killed a motorcyclist, police say. Asa Le Grande Te Kare, 43, died on Saturday night when his motorcycle was hit by one of two cars racing north on State Highway 1, just south of Warkworth. Inspector Stu Kearns, of the police serious crash unit, says witnesses saw the cars travelling at considerable speeds before the crash. Mr Kearns says the cars were travelling round a moderate right-hand bend when one of them slid sideways onto the wrong side of the road and hit the motorcycle. Police are speaking to witnesses.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Musing about a painless death got man a painful humiliation - Globe and Mail Posted: 14 Sep 2009 06:58 PM PDT Weeks before his own bruising brush with absolute power, Bruce McArthur was ruminating to friends about the notorious arrest of the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the burden that is incumbent upon those who wield it. It was either ironic or prescient or both. Mr. Gates, a black man wrongly mistaken for a burglar, was arrested on July 16 in his own home in Cambridge, Mass., by police responding to a 911 call; Mr. McArthur, a 75-year-old white man wrongly believed to be suicidal, was arrested on Aug. 9 in his own midtown apartment by Toronto police responding to a 911 call. If Mr. Gates's arrest prompted a nationwide debate in the United States about how police treat black men, Mr. McArthur's might spark a comparable one about how police treat those they believe are mentally ill.
Now, Mr. McArthur wasn't suicidal that night. In fact, he had just returned from a pleasant day visiting his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren north of Toronto. But in the course of that visit, he left behind a family history-cum-autobiography he had written, on the off chance, as he put it wryly Monday in an interview, that one of the grandchildren might one day wonder, "Who was this old fart and what did he think?" On the final pages, Mr. McArthur – divorced, living alone for the first time in his adult life and slaughtered in the stock-market downturn – admitted he had been feeling depressed from time to time, and had given some thought to his own death. This in his view was merely pragmatic: "I'm 75 years old," he said. "I have a certain view of death, as a part of life. I want to choose the time and way of going." His depression was never clinical, but rather situational; as he said Monday, "Being young and poor is one thing; you don't want to be old and poor." He admitted in the family history that he would consider suicide (as opposed to dying, muscle by muscle, as his mother, diagnosed with a form of Lou Gehrig's disease, had done) and that it could even happen within months. But he wasn't feeling suicidal at the time, let alone depressed: It had been a good day, Mr. McArthur said, and he is fundamentally optimistic. He got back to his apartment, had a shower and was about to hit the sack when the phone rang. It was a 911 operator from Toronto Ambulance, inquiring delicately if he was "feeling okay" or if he was thinking of doing away with himself. He put the pieces together immediately; his daughter or son-in-law had read the last pages, misinterpreted his rumination on death as intention, and called 911. He reassured the operator he was fine, about to go to bed, and was on the phone with his son-in-law – dressing him down, I expect – when there was a knock at his door: Two paramedics were asking to come in. They did, and he set about reassuring them too. Within about 20 minutes, the three of them were downstairs in the underground garage, so Mr. McArthur could show them his vintage motorcycle with sidecar, and even take one of the medics around the garage for a quick toot. They went back upstairs, and at least from Mr. McArthur's point of view, had long "passed the crisis discussion." He was in the hall near his bedroom when two Toronto police officers – answering the same 911 call, but arriving later – suddenly appeared, and, he said, "the whole mood changed." Both were decades younger and heavier – Mr. McArthur is a trim 165 pounds – and they were brooking no discussion, no argument. They simply announced they were taking him into custody and to hospital under the Mental Health Act. "Wait a minute," Mr. McArthur said he sputtered. "I'm not sick, I'm not suicidal, I'm not going into custody." They grabbed him, spun him around, and with one officer shoving a hand hard on the back of his neck, forced him face first onto his bed. "I'm resisting," Mr. McArthur said bluntly. "I'm saying 'Please don't do this.' I'm flailing around." One of the officers said "Get the cuffs on him," and Mr. McArthur, whose father, Bob, retired as a staff sergeant after 40 years on the job in Toronto, was mortified. "Please," he said he begged, "don't humiliate me." Yet, he said, "The more I pleaded, the more violent they became." He could feel his heart racing, his breathing growing ragged, and stopped resisting out of fear he'd have a heart attack. He was handcuffed behind his back, and by this point, the delicate skin on his forearms (he was on steroids, which can render skin thin and tender, about a year ago) was bleeding from multiple places. There was blood on his sheets, on the floor. "I was so upset," he said. "They marched me, blood dripping, out to the hall." He was grateful it was late, and none of his neighbours saw him. The police sat him in the ambulance, where he heard one of the medics say, "I don't know what happened here." The medic told the police he was going to bandage Mr. McArthur's arms, and that he couldn't do it with the handcuffs on, and only then they were removed. At St. Michael's Hospital, he was seen in emergency by various nurses and doctors and allowed to go home, on his own steam but with a taxi chit, about 4 in the morning. "Obviously, they came to the conclusion that I was no threat to myself or anyone else," he said. Within days, Mr. McArthur typed out and took to 53 Division a succinct complaint and took pictures of his ruined arms – even now, they remain a tumble of welts and bumps. The matter is now under investigation at the same station where the two who arrested Mr. McArthur work, having been passed there by the force's professional standards branch – surely one definition of absolute power, that friends investigate complaints against friends. Mr. McArthur is suffering nightmares, still sore, utterly bewildered by the speed with which events turned so rough. "All they had to do was show a bit of friendliness," he said. "Had they said, 'We're sorry sir, but we're obliged in these circumstances to take the person to hospital,' I probably would have said okay. But those guys were angry, they were looking for somebody to brutalize, and that's a bigger issue than me." Indeed, it is. What, God knows, if he had been suicidal or mentally ill?  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Motorcyclist killed in crash victim of boy racers - police - Stuff Posted: 14 Sep 2009 04:49 PM PDT Pregnant woman robbed while in labour suite Stanmore Rd, Christchurch, blocked by AOS cordon Boy with BB gun sparks Blenheim school lockdown Clayton Weatherston jailed for minimum 18 years Husband sought after body found at Christchurch home Godwits mark arrival of Spring Two stay in custody over Christchurch bashing and kidnap Worker dead in fuel tank explosion Two admit South Canterbury aviary slaughter Weatherston sentencing reflects lack of remorse: Women's Refuge  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Another big weekend at Millville track - Daily Journal Posted: 14 Sep 2009 03:02 PM PDT MILLVILLE -- Just one week removed from hosting its largest spectator event to date, New Jersey Motorsports Park played host to another major racing series. Solid crowds returned for Sunday's South Jersey Building Trades 150, and the park showed no signs of a hangover from what easily was its busiest weekend to date. "Our staff, we're constantly evolving here," park co-owner Joe Savaro said. "At each event, our people are getting better. They are handling the eternal flow in a much more professional manner." Savaro said handling the same events a year ago would have been a challenge. "There was a lot of learning going on last year," he said. "This year what you're seeing is more seasoned employees. I think the participants in the races, they've been here before. They enjoy it so much, they identify us as one of the better facilities in the country. I think the spectators feel that too." Fans who attended the ARCA RE/MAX Series this past weekend agreed their experience at the track didn't suffer deWspite the heavy traffic of the last couple weeks. "I think they did fine," said Bob Strack of Sicklerville, who was visiting the track along with his wife, Cindy, for the first time. The Stracks -- NASCAR fans who've seen other stock car races at Watkins Glen, N.Y. -- had never been to an ARCA event before but said they "definitely" plan on coming back. "Everything was good," Cindy Strack said. "Everything was very clean." Patrick Long of Thousand Oaks, Calif., won from the pole in an exciting race that was highlighted by a five-lap battle with 19-year old standout Parker Kligerman. Long was making his ARCA Series debut, but is a proven road course racer with extensive experience at circuits around the world. "I have to say, they did a great job promoting this event," Long said. "It surprised me, with the questionable weather, how many fans showed up. The crowd was tremendous, they were really into it. It goes to show that even at this level, there's a lot of fans that want to come out and meet the stars of the sport." The park does not release official attendance figures, but a visual assessment of the crowd put it easily on par with last year's ARCA event, if not higher. On Labor Day weekend, the park hosted the American Motorcycle Association, packing the grandstands with a record number of race fans. The Motorsports Park is hosting another major event this coming weekend with the Ferrari Challenge on Friday through Sunday, but officials don't anticipate the same type of crowds that either AMA or ARCA brought. "We can breathe a little sigh of relief," Savaro said. "But if the weather cooperates, we expect to see good crowds." The final major event of the season for the track is the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association on Oct. 1 to 4. |
| Charlotte: Pre-event news, schedule - Motorsport.com Posted: 14 Sep 2009 02:26 PM PDT NHRA CAROLINAS NATIONALS FACT SHEET WHAT: Second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals, the 19th of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the first of six races in the Countdown to 1, NHRA's championship playoffs. The top 10 drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle - earn points leading to 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships. WHERE: zMAX Dragway. Track is located on Hwy 29 off I-85 at exit 49 (Speedway Blvd.) in the Concord, N.C. area. WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 17-20 SCHEDULE: THURSDAY, Sept. 17 FRIDAY, Sept. 18 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 2:30 and 6 p.m. SATURDAY, Sept. 19 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. SUNDAY, Sept. 20 FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at noon TELEVISION: Saturday, Sept. 19, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 11:30 p.m. (ET). Sunday, Sept. 20, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will telecast NHRA Race Day at 11 a.m. (ET). Sunday, Sept. 20, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final round eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET). 2008 EVENT WINNERS: Tony Schumacher, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Justin Humphreys, Pro Stock; Steve Johnson, Pro Stock Motorcycle. TICKETS: For tickets call (800) 455-3267. Tickets also are available at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com. GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass) - Thursday: Adult, $10; Junior (12 & under), free. RESERVED SEATS (includes pit pass) - Friday: Adult, $25-35; Junior (12 & under), $5-10. Saturday: Adult, $45-55; Junior (12 & under), $10-15. Sunday: Adult, $45-55; Junior (12 & under), $10-15. -credit: nhra  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Add Images to any RSS Feed To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment