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An unprecedented number of homeless people

Posted on March 20, 2008
Alex Clay sits on his mattress at a homeless camp under the I-10 overpass in New Orleans. He lost his home in the Lower Ninth Ward to Hurricane Katrina.Photo by USA TodayThe homeless population of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has reached unprecedented levels for a U...

Murder trial begins for "hit-and-run grannies"

Posted on March 19, 2008
They plucked the destitute off the street as "investments," insured their lives for millions, then snuffed them out in staged hit-and-run accidents.That's how prosecutors Tuesday outlined their case against Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt in Los Angeles County Superior Court as their murder trial began...

I wish this story was about Orlando

Posted on March 15, 2008
To grow physically and spiritually, the city must embrace the needs of its most vulnerable residents ? particularly the homeless ? and not leave them behind while those stronger thrive, the mayor said.A new downtown homeless assistance center will open this spring, and that should significantly improve homeless residents' lives...

Homeless guy busts a cop

Posted on March 13, 2008
It's a man-bites-dog story: After he was detained by police at a shelter, a homeless guy told the officers that he smelled alcohol on one of them.It turned out that one of the officers' blood alcohol content tested at 0.213 and 0.198, which is more than twice the 0...

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Hundreds seeking housing money overwhelm Boca Raton Housing Authority

Posted on March 12, 2008
Police in riot gear had to step in, when the Boca Raton Housing Authority ran out of applications and the waiting crowd turned angry.Photo by the South Florida Sun-SentinelIn a sign of the desperation facing Palm Beach County's poor, hundreds of people descended on the Boca Raton Housing Authority* for a chance to get on a subsidized-housing waiting list...

Changing lives, one job at a time (we hope)

Posted on March 11, 2008
Daytona Beach will try a program that gives the city cleaner and safer streets while helping homeless people get back on their feet.The Downtown Streets Team was developed in Palo Alto, California, where the program's success stories include 40 graduates who are now employed and 29 who have found housing...

Social and economic injustice is a sin, says Catholic Church

Posted on March 10, 2008
Social and economic injustices are being called new areas of sinful behavior by the Vatican.When asked to list the new areas of sinful behavior, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti* mentioned the widening social and economic differences between the rich and the poor that "cause an unbearable social injustice...

Shaming the poor

Posted on March 10, 2008
"Shaming the children of poor people for daring to receive a free lunch is tantamount to saying to them, well, if you had been smart, you wouldn?t have been born to poor people in the first place," writes John Scalzi in his post Shaming the Poor at Whatever...

2 arrested for feeding the hungry in England

Posted on March 07, 2008
Two people were arrested at an open picnic held by South London's Food not Bombs project, the Brixton-based Reclaim Your Food group.Police told the group that a Public Order offense was being committed and the Anti-Social Behaviour law was invoked, allowing police to place a dispersion order on the group of apparently delinquent youthsOne person was arrested after he had given his name and address to police but then refused to "disperse...

Oklahoma is OK!

Posted on March 07, 2008
24 visitors from Oklahoma today. Not sure what that's about.

Why so many panhandling cases get dismissed

Posted on March 05, 2008
When lawyers actually take the time to challenge citations given to homeless people, most of them are dismissed.Citations for so-called "quality of life" violations (things like panhandling and open containers of alcohol) are issued every day by police, but in many cities they're rarely reviewed to see if there really is evidence against the alleged violator...

It's your fault you're poor and homeless, not mine

Posted on March 02, 2008
"I think this economy is down because we built too many houses," the clueless commander-in-chief said in an interview this week.Read more at Alternet here.

A very small answer for a huge problem

Posted on March 01, 2008
This 120-foot long and 30-foot wide tent filled with double-decker bunk beds will offer only meals and overnight stays to about 120 people.Frustrated with an encampment near the French Quarter, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has decided to force homeless people into a military-style barrack...

Taxpayers bear the high cost of jailing the homeless

Posted on February 26, 2008
It costs taxpayers about $925 when Sarasota police arrest a homeless person for drinking beer in public or sleeping behind a church.Aggressive enforcement of city ordinances targeting the homeless has led to 1,427 arrests over the past three years, costing taxpayers $1...

But where will they go? Maybe they should try an airport

Posted on February 24, 2008
Homeless people stay at London's Gatwick Airport because they think of it as a safe haven away from the perils of life on the streets.It's been claimed that more than 40 rough sleepers* make the airport their home every year.A few days ago, Anthony Delaney was locked up after making the airport his home for four years...

But where will they go?

Posted on February 23, 2008
Marilyn St. Laurent and Jerry Black are among about 80 homeless residents of a wooded area near Cocoa. Photo by Florida Today.Offering limited resources or options for where they can stay, Brevard County officials told residents of a homeless camp they have to leave by Monday...

He cut down his trees because he's afraid of the homeless ... say what?

Posted on February 23, 2008
People living in a Daytona Beach neighborhood described as "already notorious" are upset about a proposed homeless shelter.One guy even cut down his trees because people were sleeping under them.The Salvation Army plans to build a $6 million facility with 170 beds for homeless individuals and families...

Registration form is biased against homeless sex offenders, court rules

Posted on February 15, 2008
The registration form sex offenders must fill out when they notify the state of their whereabouts is biased against the homeless and must be rewritten to take into account their transient lifestyles, the Massachusetts supreme court has ruled.The court reached its decision while overturning the conviction of Angelo Rosado, an intermittent guest at the Pine Street Inn shelter who was found guilty in 2006 of violating sex-offender registration requirements...

Ever wondered what life would be like without a legal system?

Posted on February 15, 2008
Things spun out of control on Pitcairn Island, one of the British Empire?s most isolated remnants. Settled in 1790 by the mutineers from the storied H.M.S. Bounty, Pitcairn barely recognized that it was ruled by British law.Pitcairn did have its own legal code, mostly dealing with theft and property disputes...

Ocala cracks down on panhandling

Posted on February 11, 2008
Ocala has taken a hard-line approach to panhandling by eliminating all street transactions through a new ordinance.The city's prior law was similar to a Marion County ordinance, which is being challenged in federal court. The county has beeen barred from enforcing it...

A return to the workhouse?

Posted on February 10, 2008
In the 1920s, the workhouse uniform for able-bodied women was generally a shapeless, blue-and-white-striped frock reaching to the ankles, with a smock over.© St James Hospital, Leeds.Social housing tenants should be required to seek work, with the threat that they could lose their homes if they fail to comply, said Britain's new housing minister...

It couldn't be the same guy, could it?

Posted on February 07, 2008
A lot of hits today from people looking for a picture of John D'Amico ... and, yup, I've got one.But the guy they want to see is mob boss John D?Amico, known as Jackie the Nose. (Don't you just love Mafia nicknames?) The feds are rounding up scores of accused organized crime figures in the largest sweep in recent memory, The New York Times reports...

Palm Beach shelter's days are numbered

Posted on February 04, 2008
In Palm Beach County, there are no real emergency shelter beds. Westgate Tabernacle Church provides services for more than 100 people per day.Faced with mounting debt and an ongoing battle with Palm Beach County, Westgate Tabernacle Church, the shelter of last resort for the homeless, is for sale...

A few words of encouragement might mean a lot

Posted on February 03, 2008
An old blogging buddy, On the Nickel, has re-surfaced after almost a year of silence.He's no longer in Las Vegas, but has landed in Greenville, South Carolina. He says:"There are a few sources of help here most of them broke cause of the overwhelming need...

Boost the economy by helping people in need

Posted on February 02, 2008
An economic stimulus plan that includes an increase in food stamps, unemployment insurance, aid to prevent state cutbacks, home energy aid, and temporary tax rebates targeted to low- and moderate-income people will work best, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and other top economists say...

If these people don't exist, why are you hiding from them?

Posted on February 01, 2008
"If you know where there's a veteran sleeping under a bridge, you call me immediately, and we will make sure that man does not do it,? Bill O?Reilly said.But when a group of the folks he claimed really don?t exist -? homeless veterans -- showed up at the front door of Fox News in New York City, he hid from them...

Gag order issued in homeless beating case

Posted on January 28, 2008
Future statements and depositions in a first-degree murder case involving the beating death of a homeless man in Fort Lauderdale won't be made public.Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato issued a gag order today to prohibit all attorneys, police investigators and potential witnesses from speaking publicly about the case...

11-year-old's idea may become law to help feed the homeless

Posted on January 28, 2008
"If you think there's a problem in the world," said Jack Davis, "you don't wait for other people to fix it. You have to try to fix it yourself." He lives in Miami Shores.Jack Davis is only 11, but he had a pretty grown-up idea: He was disturbed to learn that Florida restaurants throw out food that could be given to the hungry and the homeless -- because the restaurant owners could be sued if anyone who ate the food became ill or developed food poisoning...

It is time for a new war on poverty?

Posted on January 27, 2008
Here's what the presidential candidates have to say about poverty and inequality in America:? Building One America by John Edwards? Pragmatic Solutions for Reducing Poverty and Inequality by Hillary Clinton? Tackling Poverty and Inequality in America by Barack ObamaThe pieces are from Pathways, a magazine on poverty, inequality, and social policy published by the Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University.

"You stole from the homeless, now you can feel homeless on this cold night"

Posted on January 27, 2008
As punishment for stealing a Salvation Army collection kettle shortly before Christmas, Nathen Smith was given the choice of 90 days in jail or 24 hours as a homeless man. When Smith chose the latter option, Judge Michael Cicconetti made him empty his pockets and turn over all his money and credit cards...

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