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15-year-old arrested in beating death of homeless man

Posted on May 29, 2010
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the beating death of a homeless man in Bakersfield, California.A witness said the teen became involved in an altercation with 50-year-old Mark Steven Herrold. He forced Herrold to the ground and then kicked and stomped on his head and neck, police said...

Homeless man jailed in theft of 6 chicken nuggets

Posted on May 28, 2010
A 22-year-old homeless man accused of trying to steal six chicken nuggets from a Dallas fast-food restaurant faces a robbery charge.Marquis Marsh walked into a Wendy's restaurant, jumped over the counter, grabbed the nuggets and jumped back over the counter, knocking over the cash register...

Homeless man killed for his cigarettes

Posted on May 23, 2010
Ralph Millward, 41, was a well-known figure in Bournemouth, referred to affectionately as the town?s "most familiar face." He sold the Big Issue to try to make ends meet.Three teenagers beat a homeless man to death for refusing to hand over his tobacco...

Teen gets bond in beating death of homeless man

Posted on May 18, 2010
Bail has been set at $15,000 for a Lakeland teenager accused of second-degree murder in the beating death of a homeless man.Shawn Whitten, 17, is one of three teenagers accused of fatally injuring Joseph Ruba, 52, during an April 17 fight outside a restaurant...

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Frumpy middle-aged mom: Why my kids feed the homeless

Posted on May 17, 2010
When you help someone, you give something to them and in return you get all these good feelings back knowing that you have contributed a little into the bank of humanity. Buddhists call it karma, other religions have names for it, too, but it's something I want to impart to my children in the hope that when they grow up, they'll continue to value it all their lives...

Accused trespassers forced to vacate Deltona house

Posted on May 15, 2010
Volusia County deputies forced a family to vacate a lakefront home in Deltona because it did not own the home.Bolstered by information from a group called Take Back the Land, Maria Torres and her family moved into the home last month. The group promotes people who need housing to move into houses that are vacant following a foreclosure...

Homeless tip off cops to alleged murder-for-hire scheme

Posted on May 14, 2010
A man tried to hire a homeless person to murder someone, Santa Monica police said.He allegedly contacted more than one homeless person, and at least a few told the police department's Homeless Liaison Program workers. The homeless informants helped police catch the suspect...

Florida governor signs homeless hate-crime bill

Posted on May 11, 2010
Attacks on homeless people will soon be classified as a hate crime in Florida, which has ranked first in the nation for such attacks the past 11 years.Gov. Charlie Crist has signed the bill, which amends the state's hate-crime statute to include offenses where there is evidence of prejudice based on the victim being homeless...

Dispute continues over rights of homeless folks to camp on public lands

Posted on May 08, 2010
No agreement has been reached in the lawsuit over the rights of homeless individuals camping on public lands in Anchorage.The lawsuit filed last month by the ACLU seeks to declare unconstitutional a city law passed last year allowing sweeps of homeless camps and removal of property -- from tents and sleeping bags to family photos and personal papers -- as waste...

Palm Beach County quits prosecuting panhandlers

Posted on May 07, 2010
Palm Beach County?s state attorney no longer will prosecute panhandlers under the ?obstruction of public streets? statute, saying the state law is legally flawed.The action heads off a hearing on the constitutionality of the law that could have bounced all the way to the state Supreme Court...

No bail for teen charged with homeless man's death

Posted on May 06, 2010
A judge has denied bail to a Lakeland teenager accused of beating a homeless man to death.Circuit Judge Michael E. Raiden said he would be ?very surprised? if 18-year-old Christopher Decatur were acquitted at trial based on the evidence that he reviewed during the bond hearing...

On being ... homeless in Seminole County

Posted on May 06, 2010
On any given night in Seminole County (a wealthy suburb of Orlando), 700 homeless people are sleeping in more than 70 camps or in cars or vans, behind trash dumpsters, or doubled-up with other families in apartments.In Seminole County public schools, 1,140 students were considered homeless as of April 2010...

Westgate Tabernacle closes homeless shelter

Posted on May 03, 2010
Natacha Cenat and her daughter Jhazmyn, 4, wait outside Westgate Tabernacle with other homeless residents for a ride to another church mission -- this one in Fort Lauderdale.When it came to the illegal homeless shelter operating out of Westgate Tabernacle, what the county couldn't shut down, a dwindling bank account did...

Charlotte County approves panhandling ordinance

Posted on April 28, 2010
With careful attention to language, Charlotte County commissioners have approved an ordinance defining and prohibiting aggressive or obstructive panhandling.The new ordinance, which came in response to numerous resident complaints, passed 3-1. The use of intimidation, violence or threats, or the obstruction of pedestrian or vehicular traffic while panhandling will be a second-degree misdemeanor...

Homeless hate crime bill passes Florida Senate

Posted on April 27, 2010
A bill adding the homeless to Florida's hate crime law is headed to the governor after the Senate passed it 25-10.The bill was triggered by a 2006 spree of attacks by three Broward teens who beat homeless men for sport. The teens beat one sleeping homeless man to death with a baseball bat...

Florida House adds homeless to hate crimes law

Posted on April 20, 2010
Despite one state representative calling the homeless ?bums,? the Florida House has passed a bill that would add the homeless to the state?s hate crime law.Sponsored by Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, the measure (HB 11) passed 80-28.?Nobody is more vulnerable,? Porth said...

3 teens denied bail in beating death of homeless man

Posted on April 20, 2010
Three teenagers are being held without bail on charges of second-degree murder in the beating death of a homeless man in Lakeland.The State Attorney's Office is awaiting further investigative reports to determine whether the two younger boys -- Cody Osborne, 15, and Shawn Whitten, 17 -- will be charged as adults...

3 teens suspected in fatal beating of homeless man

Posted on April 19, 2010
Three teen-agers each face a second-degree murder charge after the beating death of a homeless man in Lakeland.Joseph Ruba, 52, was riding his bicycle past a restaurant and exchanged words with 18-year-old Christopher Decatur, who was sitting on picnic tables with a group of friends...

Is it time to define crimes against the homeless as hate crimes?

Posted on April 19, 2010
The fatal beating of a homeless man by three teenagers this weekend in Lakeland should focus some attention on the question of whether crimes against the homeless should on classified as hate crimes.I'll admit I have some reservations about this. I'm really worried that police and prosecutors will use an enhanced penalty provision against a homeless person who, say, gets into a fight with another homeless person...

23 days to homelessness ...

Posted on April 18, 2010
A single mom in Connecticut is getting closer to the edge of the cliff.Read her story here.

Deputy shoots homeless man dead

Posted on April 09, 2010
A homeless man was shot and killed after he threatened an Orange County sheriff's deputy with a knife.The deputy spotted the homeless man during a routine patrol at a gas station east of Orlando, about 1:24 a.m., sheriff's reports show.The deputy began a conversation with the man that was "consensual in nature," said a sheriff's spokesman...

Apartment rents cheaper than stays in homeless shelters

Posted on March 25, 2010
Cities, states and the federal government pay more to provide the homeless with short-term shelter and services than what it would cost to rent permanent housing.In Jacksonville, one of the cities included in HUD's study of 9,000 families and individuals, the average bill for a month in an emergency shelter was $799...

Church files third lawsuit against Palm Beach County

Posted on March 14, 2010
For the third time, Palm Beach County's self-described, de facto homeless shelter is suing the Palm Beach County government.In a 19-page lawsuit, the church accuses the county of operating a criminal enterprise to keep Westgate Tabernacle Church from ministering to the homeless...

Federal judge dismisses much of homeless lawsuit against St. Petersburg

Posted on March 12, 2010
It looks like a major victory for the city of St. Petersburg. A federal judge has tossed out nine allegations in a lawsuit that accuses St. Petersburg of violating the rights of homeless people by enforcing a series of punitive ordinances.Essentially, the ruling upholds the city's right to arrest people for sleeping during the day in downtown public rights of way and storing personal property on public land...

Tell Miami not to punish people for feeding the homeless

Posted on March 04, 2010
powered by Change.orgStart a Petition »change_setup('300', '27683', '#dc0000');

5 years for setting a homeless man on fire

Posted on February 22, 2010
A mechanic charged with setting fire to a 64-year-old homeless man and his possessions has been sentenced to five years in state prison.Ruben Sandoval was attacked in an alley Jan. 2 behind an auto repair shop in Santa Ana, California.Hector Manuel Medina, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of arson causing great bodily injury with an enhancement for using a flammable fluid to light the fire...

Bystanders ignored pleas as homeless man beaten

Posted on February 03, 2010
As a homeless man was being beaten by four young men, witnesses by the downtown strip mall where the unprovoked attack occurred simply looked on. None bothered to call 911.Now the police are hoping for better from those who saw the 41-year-old man set upon without warning by attackers, who left their victim with injuries that include a broken nose, possible broken ribs and soft-tissue damage to his legs...

Florida's safety net is shredding

Posted on February 02, 2010
Florida's safety net for people in need is shredding in the face of escalating demand and dwindling resources, says the head of the state's United Way network.And Florida's safety net is almong the nation's weakest.Ted Granger, president of United Way of Florida, says social service agencies statewide are seeing more and more people who are homeless and hungry...

Some good news in Obama's budget, and some bad

Posted on February 01, 2010
More than $2 billion for HUD grants to combat nationwide homelessness sounds good.But President Obama's budget also includes steep cuts to housing programs for the elderly and persons with disabilities.Funding for tenant-based and project-based rental assistance programs was increased by $2...

Homeless chased away, Jacksonville shelter warned about trash

Posted on January 29, 2010
For the last week, homeless people sleeping near Jacksonville's City Rescue Mission have been chased away from the sidewalk nearby. And then the mission itself was warned by city code enforcement about garbage left on the sidewalks outside its fence.The mission says it was blindsided by the actions, because the few dozen people who sleep outside the mission's New Life Inn, which has been full for months and has seen a 33 percent increase in demand, have been doing so for over a year...

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